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THE 

BIRKBECKS    OF    WESTMORLAND. 


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THE 


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AND 


THEIR    DESCENDANTS. 


BY 
ROBERT     BIRKBECK,     F.S.A. 


Privately  Printed  for  the  Author  by  Mitchell  and   Hughi 
1900, 


PREFACE. 


ii2?7G2 


TN  1886,  before  issuing  the  patent  of  Baronetcy  to  my  brother  Edward, 
-■-  the  Home  Office  required  production  of  the  Arms  from  the  Heralds' 
College  as  proof  that  he  was  Armigerus,  and  the  College  of  Arms  insisted 
on  legal  proof  that  he  was  descended  from  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Hornby, 
to  whom  the  Grant  of  Arms  was  made  in  151  5.  We  had  all  used  these 
Arms  in  the  belief  that  we  were  entided  to  them  ;  and  in  the  attempt  to 
prove  that  we  were  right  in  so  doing,  I  caught  the  incurable  disease  of 
Genealogy.  Major  Robert  Stanfeld  Birkbeck  had  taken  great  interest  in 
the  pedigree,  but  died  before  I  began  to  work  at  it.  John  Birkbeck  of 
Anley  lent  me  all  his  brother's  papers  on  the  subject — a  great  help  in  my 
earlier  researches.  For  fourteen  years  I  have  tried  to  penetrate  the  maze, 
and  as  it  appears  hopeless  to  expect  ever  to  reach  the  end,  I  have  written 
this  Sketch  from  the  mass  of  notes  which  I  had  collected. 

I  know  well  that  engrossing  as  the  subject  may  be  to  the  writer,  it 
can  have  very  little  interest  except  to  those  of  the  name  in  question,  probably 
not  even  to  them  ;  but  perhaps  in  years  to  come,  a  desire  to  know  some- 
what of  his  ancestors  might  cause  one  of  the  family  to  be  infected  with  the 
Genealogical  craze,  and  if  so,  I  think  these  notes  may  earn  his  gratitude 
by  saving  him  from  searching  over  again  the  same  dusty  old  records. 

I  hope  I  have  resisted  all  temptation  to  "  make  pedigree,"  and  I  believe 
that  in  no  instance  is  anything  assumed  if  not  proved,  unless  expressly  stated 
as  merely  possible  or  probable. 


vi  PREFACE. 

I  have  been  greatly  indebted  to  many  for  kind  help,  and  especially  to 
several  of  the  Westmorland  Clergy,  who,  by  copying  long  extracts  from 
their  registers,  have  saved  me  much  trouble  and  expense. 

Some  explanation  may  be  well  of  the  dates  with  two  years,  as 
A.D.  1619-20.  Until  1753  the  Ecclesiastical  and  Legal  year  commenced 
on  25  March,  so  any  day  between  i  January  and  25  March  was  dated 
the  previous  year.  To  avoid  confusion  the  two  years  are  therefore 
mentioned  thus  :  i  March,  1698-9,  1698  being  the  legal  year,  and  the  date 
used  at  the  time,  while  1699  was  the  historical  year,  according  to  modern 
computation.  The  old  style  was  changed  by  Statute  on  i  January,  1753. 
In  the  early  registers  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  their  practice  of  using  the 
ordinal  numbers  for  the  months  instead  of  their  names  often  creates 
confusion  ;  for  instance,  March,  which  is  now  in  the  phraseology  of  Friends 
the  3rd  month,  was  before  1753  called  ist  month,  as  the  year  then  com- 
menced. Thus  the  marriage  of  William  Birkbeck,  11  November,  1703, 
was  entered  9th  mo.  iith;  the  birth  of  his  son  John,  16  February,  1723, 
was  entered  12th  mo.  i6th  of  the  preceding  year,  and  therefore  here  described 
as  16  February,  1722-3. 


tin 


i 


THE 


BiRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


rr^HE  ARMS  were  granted  to  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Carlisle  in  the 
-*-  seventh  year  of  Henry  VIII.  (a.d.  15  15),  it  is  said  "for  his  brave 
defence  against  the  Scots  ;"  but  though  this  may  have  been  the  case,  I  can 
find  no  authority  for  it,  nor  have  I  found  any  reference  to  his  having  been 
engaged  in  any  Scotch  expedition  previous  to  1515,  although  he  vv^as  so, 
subsequently  in  1523.  He  may  possibly  have  fought  at  Flodden  Field  on 
September  9th,  15 13,  and  received  the  arms  on  that  account.  A  letter 
addressed  in  1833  to  William  Birkbeck  of  Settle,  signed  by  Thomas 
Proctor,  states  that  through  his  grandfather,  whose  mother  was  a  daughter 
of  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Ingleton  Fells  (died  1715),  he  came  into  possession 
of  a  quantity  of  Birkbeck  papers,  among  which  was  "  a  coat  of  arms  of  the 
Birkbeck  family  in  a  very  mutilated  state  from  age  :  the  patent  stated  that 
the  arms  were  granted  by  Henry  VIII.  to  Thomas  Birkbeck,  Governor 
of  Carlisle,  for  his  brave  defence  of  the  city  against  the  Scots,  or  words 
nearly  to  this  effect,  and  bearing  date  May  loth,  15 15,  signed  Thomas 
Wriothesley;  this  was  in  1808.  I  left  the  arms  with  a  friend  to  forward 
to  Mr.  Jos.  Nailer  of  the  Heralds'  College.  My  friend  sent  them  by  a 
person  who  never  delivered  them  ;  he  is  since  dead,  and  I  fear  they  are 
lost." 


2  THE    BIRKBECKS    OF    WESTMORLAND. 

Mr.  Proctor  appears  to  have  been  a  genealogist,  and  left  a  quantity  of 
notes  written  to  prove  his  descent  from  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Carlisle,  but  I 
believe  he  was  quite  mistaken  in  this  belief-  ;  he  seems  to  have  jumped  at 
conclusions  without  facts  to  prove  them. 

There  must,  however,  have  been  some  foundation  for  the  story,  and 
there  appears  to  have  been  another  copy  of  the  patent,  for  when  Dugdale 
certified  the  pedigree  of  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Hornby  on  March  22nd, 
1 664-5,  ^^^  antiquary  Machell  was  with  the  Herald  at  Appleby,  and  thinking 
there  was  a  mistake  in  the  arms  as  entered  by  Dugdale,  he  made  the 
following  entry  in  his  diary  :  — 

Appleby,  23  Martij,  1664,  Mr.  Dugd. 

Memorandum.  Mr.  William  Birbeck,  son  of  George  Birbeck  of  Kirkby 
Stephen,  &"  fellow  of  St.  John's  Col.  in  Cambridge,  has  a  patent,  or  a  copy  of  a 
patent,  wh.  the  arms  which  was  granted  to  one  Birbeck  of  Cariile:  of  (may  be) 
the  beginner  of  this  family.     I  should  see  it  1^  know  whence  he  had  it.^ 

The  official  docket  in  the  College  of  Arms  is  as  follows  : — "  Cumb. 
Birkbeck,  A.  :  Cheq.  O.  S.  in  chief  2  Lyons  heads  er.  in  base  a  Boars 
Head  G.  Crest  :  A  branch  of  Green  Accors  <^  upon  that  a  Rose  hung 
in  S  pr.  To  Tho.  Birkbeck  of  Carlisle  pr.  Wriothesly,  Garter,  and 
Young,  Norroy,  10"'  May  15  15." 

Another  crest  from  a  MS.  Alphabet  of  Arms  in  the  College  of  Arms, 
viz.  :  "A  Bow  bent  in  |  or  standing  in  a  bush  of  Hazels  vt.  the  nutts 
appearing  out  of  the  Husks  O." 

Dugdale's  Visitation  of  W^estmorland  and  Cumberland,-  a.d.  1664,  at 
the  College  of  Arms,  C.  39,  fo.  6,  certifying  the  pedigree  of  Thomas 
Birkbeck  of  Hornby,  March  22nd,  1664,  figures  his  arms  as  shewn  in  the 
annexed  cut. 

1  Machell's  MS.  History  of  the  Borders,  vol.  v.,  p.  39  (Library  of  Dean  and  Chapter, 
Carlisle). 

-  EDN  Alphabet  of  Arras,  at  College  of  Arms. 


THE   BIRKBECKS    OF   WESTMORLAND. 


Machell,  the  Westmorland  antiquarian,  who  was  a  cousin  of  the  Hornby 
Birkbecks,  writing  in  1664,  quotes  Dugdale's  Visitation:  '"  The  Arms, 
Arg.  a  Fess  chequy  or,  <%?  sab.  Between  three  Lyons  heads  errased.  Gules,' 
but  I  believe  this  is  a  mistake  in  ye  tracing  it,  for  in  all  their  Arms  att 
hornby,  the  Fess  is  co'ntercompone,  or  ^  azure,  he  bore  3  Lyons  heads  ^c. 
&  sometimes  he  bore  2  Lyons  heads  in  chiefe  <^  a  F  Bores  head  in  bass  : 
which  I  have  seen  confirmed  in  Visit.  West.  <^  Cumb.  circa  temp.  Hen.  8." 

In  Dwnn's  "  Visitation  of  Wales  and  part  of  the  Marches  between  the 
years  1586  and  1613,"  vol.  i.,  p.  191,  is  the  pedigree  of  "Syr  Hylbert 
Byrbeck,  Vickar  off  Lamffae  in  Pembrokeshire,  1608.  He  bereth  Argent 
a  ffes  check  Or  an  G.  :  2  leions  hiets  erasyd  G.  :  in  bas  powynts  a  Bors 
hieds  kopied  G. — o   duw  nad  gamwedd,  O  God,  Prevent  error."     Syr 


Hylbert  was  certainly  the  Rev.  Cuthbert  Birkbeck,  son  of  Edward  Birkbeck 
of  Hornby  (fide  post,  p.  20).  The  prefix  "Sir"  was  formerly  generally 
applied  to  clergymen  who  had  not  taken  a  University  degree. 


4  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

Dugdale's  Visitation  of  Yorkshire,  a.d.  1666,^  certifies  the  arms  of 
Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Sheffield,  and  of  Peter  Birkbeck,  Rector  of  Castleford, 
CO.  York,  as  grandsons  of  "  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Orton  in  Com.  West- 
morl.,    of  the    family    of   Morton    Tinmouth    in    Com.    Palat.    Dunelm," 


Argent,  a  fess  between  two  lions'  heads  erased  in  chief,  and  a  boar's 
head  in  base  gules.  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Orton  was  not  descended  from 
the  Morton  Tynmouth  family,  nor  I  believe  from  any  of  the  Hornby 
Birkbecks  [fide  post,  p.  43),  but  it  seems  to  have  been  a  point  of  honour 
with  the  Birkbecks  to  claim  that  they  were  descended  from  the  Hornby 
family. 

The  arms  at  Headlam  on  the  shield  in  the  fireplace  are  described 
in  "  The  Antiquities  of  Gainford,"  by  J.  R.  Walbran,  p.  107  (I  omitted 
to  copy  them  myself),  as  "  a  fess  compony  between  three  lions' 
heads  erased,  a  crescent  for  difference,"  the  crest  being  broken  off  the 
shield  ;  and  the  four  shields  in  the  stained  glass  removed  from  the  window 
at  the  same  place  are  all  of  them,  a  fess  compony  between  three  lions' 
heads  erased  gules.  A  silver  cup  given  in  1609  by  Thomas  Birkbeck 
of  Hornby  to  his  daughter-in-law  Anna,  the  wife  of  Henry  Birkbeck  of 
Headlam  (described  on  p.  23),  has  the  arms  engraved,  a  fess  compony  between 
three  lions'  heads.  The  arms  of  his  cousin  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Morton 
Tynmouth  on  a  brass  in  Gainford  Church  (^ride  p.  20)  in  memory  of  his  wife, 
A.D.  1668,  were  :   Argent,  a  fess  compony  or  and  sable,  between  two  lions' 

'   College  of  Arms,  C.  40,  221  B. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF  WESTMORLAND.  5 

heads  erased  in  chief,  and  a  boar's  head  in  base.     Crest  :  A  hazel  branch 
fructed  proper  debruised  by  a  bow  bent  in  pale  (vide  cut). 


In  C.  14,  fo.  62,  Visitation  of  Counties  Northampton  and  Rutland, 
A.D.  1619,  at  the  College  of  Arms,  occurs  the  following  match  anterior  to 
20  Edward  IV.  : — 

Richardus  Andrewe  de  Sawbridge=pKatherina  tilia  et  heres  Joh'is  Berbcck  , 

in  com.  Warw.  de  com.  Ebor. 


Tho.  Andrewe,  emit  manerium  de  Charwelton  a°  30  Edw.  IV. 

The  arms  allowed  for  this  lady  in  the  scheme  of  quarterings  at  the 
base  of  the  pedigree  are  : — "  Sable,  a  fess  chequey  argent  and  of  the  ist, 
between  3  Lions'  heads  erased  or  "  (vide  cut,  p.  6). 

In  Augustine  Vincent's  MS.,  College  of  Arms,  vol.  xliv.,  fo.  68,  the 
arms  given  to  the  above  Katherina  Berbeck  are,  "  Sable,  on  a  chief  or  three 
niascles  of  the  first,"  but  this  would  appear  to  have  been  a  mistake. 
Apparently  therefore  there  had  been  an  earlier  grant  of  arms  before  151 5, 
the  son  having  bought  the  Manor  of  Charwelton  in  1480-1  (but  this  is  the 
only  trace  I  found  of  it),  though  the  arms  are  similar  to  those  granted  1 5 1 5  ; 
the  blazoning  is  quite  different. 

Who  John  Birkbeck  of  Yorkshire  was  I  do  not  know.  There  was  a 
John   Burback,   Professor  of  Sacred  Theology  and  Vice-Chancellor  of  the 


6  THE    BIRKBECKS    OF   WESTMORLAND. 

University  of  Oxford  a.d.  1435-6,  but  I  have  no  proof  that  either  he 
or  another  John  Burback,  Prebendary  of  Lincohi,  ob.  1402,  were 
Birkbecks. 


From  Warburton's  "Arms  of  Yorkshire  Families"  (Lansd.  MSS.  908, 
British  Museum)  it  appears  that  the  Birkbecks  of  Osgoodby,  co.  York,  used 
the  arms  (Warburton  was  Somerset  Herald  1720 — 1759)-  In  1741 
Charles  Birkbeck  of  York  had  a  freehold  at  Osgoodby  which  he  inherited 
from  his  father,  Dr.  Christopher  Birkbeck  of  York,  "  a  very  eminent 
surgeon  of  this  city,  who  died  a.d.  1717"  (M.I.  All  Saints,  York).  He 
was  the  son  of  Edward  Birkbeck  of  Aldborough,  who  died  1674. 

In  a  MS.,  "Arms  C,"  p.  123,  in  the  College  of  Arms,  Dublin  Castle, 
are  the  arms  of  Birckbeck  :  "  Ar.  a  fess  compony  Or  and  az.  between  2 
lions'  heads  in  chief  and  a  boar's  head  in  base  Gu.  ;"  but  the  MS.  is  no' 
official,  nor  is  there  any  mention  of  locality. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


The  Settle  family  have  long  used  the  arms  with  the  fess  chequy 
between  three  hons'  heads  ;  and  as  crest  the  nut-branch  and 
bow  {lide  cut),  with  the  motto  "  Regi  semper  fidelis  ";  while 
the  sons  of  Dr.  George  Birkbeck  also  used  the  branch  of 
acorns  with  the  rose,  and  the  motto  "Fide  sed  cui  vide."  In 
Norfolk  we  used  the  nut-branch  without  the  bow,  and  no  motto  ;  since 
1886  of  course  the  arms  and  crest  granted  that  year  as  below. 

The  arms  seem  to  have  been  generally  and  freely  used  without  the 
slightest  right,  and  probably  with  a  sincere  belief  on  the  part  of  the  wearer 
that  he  was  descended  from  the  Hornby  Birkbecks,  who  alone  had  the 
right  to  bear  the  arms.  All  the  Settle  Birkbecks,  with  the  Norfolk  branch, 
had  for  long  used  the  arms  in  perfect  faith  that  they  were  entitled  to 
them,  but  on  the  patent  of  Baronetcy  being  made  out  in  1886,  the  College 
of  Arms  required  proof  of  the  descent  from  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Hornby. 
This  I  soon  satisfied  myself  was  not  the 
case,  and  fresh  arms  were  granted  to  the 
descendants  of  John  Birkbeck  of  Lynn, 
my  grandfather ;  they  are  as  close  as 
could  be  allowed  to  the  original  arms 
[vide  Frontispiece). 

Arms  :  Argent,  a  fess  chequy  az. 
and  or  cottised  of  the  second,  between 
three  lions'  heads  erased  gules,  in  the 
centre  chief  point  a  bow  palewise  ppr. 

Crest  :  Upon  a  rock  in  front  of  a 
hazel  branch,  slipped  and  fructed,  a  bow 
palewise,  all  ppr. 

Granted  in  1886  to  the  descendants 
of  John  Birkbeck  of  Lynn  Regis. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


rT-\HE  NAME  OF  BIRKBECK  has  from  an  early  date  been  of  very 
-*-  frequent  occurrence  in  the  records  of  Cumberland,  Westmorland, 
and  Yorkshire.  The  Birkbeck  lordship,  from  which  the  family  name  was 
derived,  is  chiefly  in  the  parish  of  Orton,  although  a  portion  is  within  the 
parishes  of  Shap  and  Crosby  Ravensworth  in  the  county  of  Westmorland. 
it  is  now  known  as  Birkbeck  Fells,  an  extensive  and  wild  mountainous 
district  watered  by  the  Birkbeck — a  stream  which,  rising  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  Fell  near  Wasdale  Pike,  falls  into  the  river  Lune'  close  to  Tebay 
Station,  on  the  main  line  of  the  London  and  North-Western  Railway. 

Both  lordship  and  river  are  several  times  mentioned  in  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries.  The  course  of  the  latter  was  described  under  the 
name  "  Bibeck  River  "  in  a  Boundary  Roll  of  the  Orton  and  Raisbeck  Manors 
at  the  time  of  the  division  of  the  Manors  {I'ide  p.  39),  witnessed  by 
Sir  Michael  de  Harclay,  who  lived  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  IIL  and 
Edward  L  The  roil  is  no  longer  in  existence,  but  is  stated  by  Dr. 
Burns,  in  the  well-known  "  History  and  Antiquities  of  Westmorland  and 
Cumberland,"^  to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  Edward  Birkbeck  of 
Coatflat   Hall,   Orton,   and   to   have   been   copied    by    the    Rev.   Thomas 

1   "True  it  is,"  as  Drayton  sa3'S,  "  that  the  destinies  assign  such  honour  to  this  river 
[the  Lune]  that  she  christens  in  her  course  a  County  Palatine — ■ 

'  Yet  though  she  be  a  flood  such  glory  that  doth  gain 
In  that  the  British  crown  doth  to  her  state  pertain, 
Yet  Westmorland  alone  not  only  gives  her  birth, 
But  for  her  greater  good  the  kind  Westmerian  earth 
Clear  Burbeck  her  bequeathes,  and  Barrow  to  attend 
Her  grace,  till  she  her  name  to  Lancaster  doth  lend.'  "* 
-  "  History  and  Antiquities  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland"  (Burns  and  Nicholson), 
vol.  i.,  p.  486. 

*  Article  on  Westmorland  in  "Quarterly  Review,"  April.  1867. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  9 

Machell,  Rector  of  Klrkby  Thore  from  1677  to  1698,  "the  father 
of  all  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquaries."^  The  name  of 
the  stream  shews  the  derivation  very  clearly — the  Birch  Brook,  "  birk  " 
being  of  course  Scotch  for  "  birch,"  and  "  beck  "  a  north-country  and 
Scandinavian  word  for  "brook";  the  streams  running  towards  the  west 
being  generally  called  "  becks,"  while  those  which  run  to  the  east  have 
more  often  the  Scotch  designation  "  burns."  The  Scandinavians  were 
much  more  firmly  settled  on  the  west  than  on  the  east  coast  of  the  north 
of  England. 

Even  had  there  been  Blrkbecks  of  sufficient  position  to  have  been 
mentioned  in  Doomsday  Book,  the  survey  did  not  include  Northumberland, 
Durham,  Cumberland,  or  Westmorland  (although  parts  of  the  Barony 
of  Kendal  were  taken  with  Lancashire),  as  those  counties  had  been 
devastated  with  fire  and  sword  by  the  Normans,  and  being  waste  and 
uncultivated  were  doubtless  considered  worthless.  Cumberland  and  most 
of  Westmorland,  moreover,  were  ceded  to  the  Scots  by  William  the 
Conqueror. 

The  name  was  spelt  in  many  different  ways,  the  letter  i)  being  constantly 
used  in  place  of  z,  more  especially  perhaps  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries.  We  find  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  as  place 
names  in  Westmorland,  Birkbeck,  Birkbek,  Berkebek,  Bibeck,  Berburn, 
Bercburn,  Berckburn, — all,  I  believe,  being  the  Birkbeck  Lordship.  Burbank 
is  probably  a  distinct  place,  although  I  think  I  have  found  it  used  as  a 
personal  name  for  a  Birkbeck.  As  personal  names  the  spelling  also  varied 
very  much,  as  Burbacke,  Bychebek  of  Berburn,  Berkebek,  Berlebek,  and 
Berkeley  are  all  used  for  one  and  the  same  person.  In  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  we  find  "  Birtbet  alias  Birkebek,"  Birtbeck  and 
Birkebecke  in  the  same  family  at  the  same  time,  Barbyke  and  Birkebecke 

1  Chancellor  Ferguson,  '■'  Transactions  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian 
Society,"  vol.  iv,,  p.  i. 


10  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

for  the  same  person,  as  also  Birkbecke,  Birkebecke,  Byrkbek,  Byrkebek, 
Byrkbeck,  Byrkebeck,  Byrckbecke,  and  Barkebeke,  all  for  one  individual. 
Later  on  Birbeck  or  Burbeck  is  often  found,  so  the  name  would  appear 
to  have  been  pronounced,  as  at  present,  without  sounding  the  k.  Certainly 
this  was  the  case  in  1702,  as  in  a  Chancery  Deposition^  by  Catterick 
Birkbeck  of  Hornby  his  name  in  the  heading  is  correctly  written  over  an 
erasure  ;  in  all  other  places  in  his  evidence  in  this  suit  the  spelling  is 
Burbeck,  but  the  signature  is  Birkbeck. 

I  regret  to  say  that  the  earliest  records  of  the  name  I  have  found  seem 
to  shew  that  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  they  were  a 
turbulent  family,  although  probably  not  more  so  than  their  neighbours. 
In  13  18  "  Willielmus  de  Birkebek  as  one  of  the  adherents  of  Thomas,  Earl 
of  Lancaster,  obtains  pardon  by  consent  of  Parliament  for  all  felonies  and 
trespasses  committed  by  him  up  to  the  7"'  August  then  last  past  ;  the 
robbery  of  the  Cardinal  Legates  only  excepted.  Tested  at  York  i  Nov. 
12  Ed.  IL'" 

In  August,  13  I  7,  the  Cardinals  John  de  Ossa  and  Luke  de  Fieschi, 
having  received  a  commission  from  the  Pope  (John  XXII.),  with  full 
powers  to  settle  p^ace  throughout  Great  Britain,  set  out  from  London  to 
Scotland,  but  when  on  their  road  from  York  to  Durham  they  were  surprised 
near  Darlington  by  a  party  under  Sir  Gilbert  de  Middleton,  Keeper  of  the 
Castle  of  Mitford,  and  Sir  Walter  Selby,  and  robbed  of  their  money,  goods, 
and  horses.  The  Earl  of  Lancaster,  who  had  rebelled  against  his  cousin 
Edward  II.,  made  his  peace  with  the  King  at  a  Parliament  assembled  at 
York  20  October,  1318,  and  his  adherents  were  pardoned,  the  sacrilegious 
robbery  only  excepted,  but  again  rebelling,  he  was  finally  vanquished 
with  Roger  de  Clifford  by  Andrew  de  Hercla  at  Burrough  Bridge  in 
Yorkshire  in   1322  and  beheaded;    Roger  de  Clifford   being  pardoned  as 

1   Exche<iuer  Depositions,  i  and  2  Anne  (Yorkshire),  Hilary,  No.  10. 
"   Rot.  I\n-1.  12  Edward  II.,  p.  i,  m.  16. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  ii 

William  de  Birkebek  had  previously  been  :  the  latter  may  have  been  an 
"  adherent "  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster  as  a  follower  of  Roger  de  Clifford — 
there  certainly  was  some  connection  between  the  Cliffords  and  the  Birkbecks 
a  century  or  two  later. 

The  Assize  Rolls  also  for  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries 
mention  Birkbecks  in  a  somewhat  unpleasant  manner  ;  and  later  on  they 
shewed  little  regard  for  game-laws  in  their  love  of  sport :  a.d.  i  584,  "  Thomas 
Birkbeck  of  Ripley,  co.  York,  with  others  in  a  very  riotous  and  outrageous 
manner  assembled  with  long  pike-staves,  swords,  and  daggers,  did  take, 
kill,  and  carry  away  divers  conies  "  from  Kellinghall  Moor  in  the  forest  of 
Knaresbro.^  Although  Edward  Birkbeck  in  acquiring  Hornby  covenanted 
with  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  that  "  he  should  leave  his  deer  unmolested 
or  slain,"  yet  in  1566  the  Earl  was  compelled  to  proceed  against  Henry 
Birkbeck  of  Hornby,  Gentleman  (a  younger  son  of  Edward),  Thomas 
Byrkbeck,  Gentleman,  of  Hartley  Castle,  and  others,  "  for  forcibly  entering 
and  hunting  in  Plaintiff's  park  at  Brougham  without  leave,  and  taking 
Plaintiff's  deer,  viz.,  one  buck,  three  does,  and  two  fawns,  to  the  damage  of 
£^0  ;""  and  a  hundred  years  later  (in  1677)  William  Atkinson  at  Lowther 
writes  to  Daniel  Fleming  that  he  thinks  he  has  discovered  the  deerstealers 
of  13  September  in  Lowther  Park,  and  names  Mr.  Birkbeck  as  ringleader.^ 
The  pugnacious  spirit  shewn  by  the  marauding  and  killing  in  the  thirteenth, 
fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  centuries  seems  during  the  two  following  centuries 
to  have  found  a  vent  in  the  law-courts.  I  have  waded  through  and  partly 
copied  the  pleadings  in  145  law-suits  at  the  Record  Office,  and  doubtless 
could  have  found  many  more  in  a  longer  search.  There  is  an  immense 
amount  of  most  interesting  genealogical  information  to  be  found  in  these 

1  Attorney-General  v.  Thomas  Birkbeck  and  others,  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  Elizabeth, 
vol.  88,  A.  38. 

^  De  Banco  Roll,  Easter,  8  Elizabeth,  m.  25,  5. 

s  MSS.  of  S.  H.  Le  Fleming  (Historical  Manuscripts'  Commission,  xii.,  part  vii., 
P-7)- 

c   2 


12  THE    BIRKBECKS    OF   WESTMORLAND. 

old  cases  ;  they  sometimes  recite  family  history  for  generations  back.  But 
we  may  hope  that,  possibly  from  Qiiaker  influence,  the  family  have  of  later 
years  been  less  addicted  to  litigation,  as  I  have  only  found  one  single 
law-suit  to  which  a  Birkbeck  was  a  party  since  they  went  to  Settle,  and 
even  in  that  he  was  not  directly  responsible  ;  a  Hornby  suit,  however, 
dragged  on  to  1743. 


(     13     ) 


BIRK  BECKS    OF    HORNBY. 


The  two  most  prominent  families  of  the  Birkbecks  were  those  of  Hornby 
and  Orton  ;  the  former  were  descended  from 

THOMAS  BYRKEBEKE  of  Carlisle,  who  is  said  to  have  been 
Governor  of  that  city,  but  I  can  find  no  good  authority  for  this,  although 
he  was  certainly  a  man  of  some  position  ;  indeed  from  Machell's  account, 
written  in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  (vide  p.  35),  it  would 
appear  that  his  ancestors  had  for  at  least  five  generations  married  into  very 
leading  families  in  Westmorland,  and  probably  that  Thomas  Byrkebeke 
himself  had  married  a  daughter  of  Lancaster  of  Sockbrldge,  a  descendant  of 
Ivo  de  Talebois,  who  was  granted  the  Barony  of  Kendal  by  William  the 
Conqueror.  William  de  Talebois,  by  licence  of  Henry  II.,  took  the  name 
of  de  Lancastre.     Sockbridge  was  near  Hornby. 

The  cut  shews  a  lion's  head  instead  of  the  boar's  head  in  the  base  ; 
the  quarterings  of  the  second  and  third  are  those  of  Lancaster  of  Sockbridge. 


The  cut  is  taken  from  the  "History  of  Galnford,"  in  which  parish  his  grand- 
son Henry  owned  Headlam  [vide  p.  22). 


14  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

Thomas  Byrkebeke  owned  lands  in  the  city  of  Carlisle,'  including 
the  Manor  of  Bochardby,"  as  well  as  a  property  in  the  parish  of  Kirkby 
Thore.  The  grant  of  the  arms  to  him  in  151  5  [vidt  p.  2)  is  the  earliest 
notice  of  his  name  I  have  discovered  and,  as  before  stated,  this  is  said 
to  have  been  for  "  his  brave  defence  against  the  Scots."  He  is  mentioned 
as  one  of  the  captains  in  Sir  Thomas  CliiFord's  retinue  in  the  "names  of 
the  persons  who  went  into  Scotland  at  this  last  raid"  in  1523  ;''  he  was 
"  absent "  in  "  the  names  of  all  the  gentlemen  within  the  shyre  of 
Westm'land"  a.d.  1526  ;"*  and  he  was  one  of  the  jury  on  Lord  Dacre's 
trial  at  Carlisle  a.d.  1534.' 

From  a  copy  of  a  charter  in  the  Bodleian  it  would  appear  that  Thomas 
Byrkebeke  had  before  1528  purchased,  in  conjunction  with  Christopher 
and  James  Crackenthorp,  a  property  in  Brampton  from  Thomas  Lancaster, 
the  father-in-law  of  his  son  Edward.  The  translation  of  the  charter  is  as 
follows  : — 

Carta  Cristabelle  de  Lancastre.  To  all  to  whom  this  present  writing  shall 
come,  Cristabeila  de  Lancastre,  spinster,  greeting  in  the  Lord.  Whereas  I,  the 
said  Cristabeila,  have  and  hold  one  tenement  with  appurtenances  in  Brampton,  ot 
which  same  tenement  with  appurtenances  the  reversion  then  falls  {spectat)  to 
'lliomas  Lancaster  iny  brother  when  it  shall  happen  after  my  death,  w  hich  same 
tenement  Christofer  Crackenthorp,  Thomas  Byrkbeke,  and  James  Crackenthorp 
lately  purchased  from  my  aforesaid  brother  Thomas  Lancaster  and  his  heirs.  Be 
it  known  that  I,  the  said  Cristabeila,  have  returned  to  the  said  Christofer  Cracken- 
thorpe,  Thomas  Byrkebeke,  and  James  Crackenthorpe  concerning  the  aforesaitl 
reversion,  and  by  the  payment  of  one  silver  penny.  In  witness  whereof  I  have 
set  my  seal  to  this  present  writing.     Dated  7  day  of  April,  19  Hen.  VIII.'' 

'   Chancery  Depositions,  Elizabeth — Charles  I.,  B.  58,  19  November  4  Edward  \'l. 

-  "  An  Accompt  of  the  most  considerable  Estates  and  Families  in  the  County  of 
Cumberland,  by  Jno.  Deuton "  (Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian  Societv), 
p.  103. 

^  State  Papers,  Henry  VIIL,  vol.  iii.,  part  ii.,  3410. 

^  Cotton  MSS.,  Calig.,  fo.  193,  British  Museum. 

■"'   State  Papers,  Henry  VHI.,  vol.  vii.,  963. 

"   Dodsworth  MSS.,  Ixx.,  2>3  verso,  Bodleian  Library. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  15 

Thomas  Byrkebeke  was  living  in  1536-7,  as  Lord  Maxwell 
vvrote  to  him  and  three  other  "  Deputies  to  my  Lord  of  Cumberland  ;"^ 
no  doubt  he  was  a  Deputy-Lieutenant  for  Cumberland.  He  died 
before  1550,  and  probably  before  1543,  having  had  two  sons,  Henry 
and  Edward. 

HENRY  BYRKEBEKE,  the  eldest  son,  married  Elizabeth  Highmore. 
The  Highmores  were  an  old  fimily  at  Bassenthwaite  in  Cumberland. 
Bishop  Nicolson's  Visitation  in  i  702  mentions  three  Highmore  inscriptions 
in  Bassenthwaite  Church,  without  dates,  but  in  old  characters,  one  of  which 
was,  "  Hie  est  positus  Robertus  de  Hehmor  cujus  anime  propitietur 
Deus."  Henry  Byrkebeke  died  before  his  father,  and  some  time  before 
1550,  when  his  only  daughter  Elizabeth,  who  had  married  Christopher 
Symson,  brought  a  suit  against  her  uncle  Edward  Byrkebeke,  proving 
that  the  deeds  of  settlement  and  entail  of  property  in  Carlisle  and  Kirkby 
There,  which  had  been  settled  by  Thomas  Byrkebeke  on  his  eldest  son's 
marriage,  were  burned  by  Edward  Byrkebeke  and  Elizabeth,  the  widow  of 
Henry,  on  the  re-marriage  of  the  latter  to  John  Brougham  of  Brougham.^ 
The  first  marriage  had  been  "  according  to  the  laws  of  Holy  Church," 
therefore  was  before  the  Reformation.  One  of  the  witnesses  to  the  signing 
of  the  settlement  lived  at  Bassenthwaite.  The  burning  must  have  taken 
place  a  considerable  time  before  1550,  as  it  is  stated  that  "the  witnesses  to 
the  deed  were  then  very  old  and  sickly." 

The  second  son,  EDWARD  BYRKEBECKE  of  Hornby,  co. 
Westmorland,  appears  to  have  succeeded  his  father  before  1543,  and  to 
have  been  living  in  Westmorland,  as  his  name  appears  with  "  2  horse  "  in 
"a  list  of  the  Gentlemen  of  the  County  called  out  by  Sir  Thomas  Wharton 
upon  some  further  service  of  the  Borders  (34  Henry  VIIL  a.d.  1543)  ; 
which  shews  who  were  the  principal   Gentlemen   of  that  time  subject  to 

1   Cal.  State  Papers,  Henry  \'III.,  vol.  xii.,  part  i.,  121. 

-  Chancery  Depositions,  Elizabeth — Charles  I.,  B.  ^S,  19  November  4  Edward  VI, 


1 6  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

Border  Service."^  The  "  results  of  a  forray  "  in  that  year,  1543,  from  2  July 
to  17  November,  no  doubt  the  one  in  which  Edward  Byrkebecke  was 
engaged,  is  thus  computed  in  Haines'  State  Papers,  pp.  51 — 54  : — 

Towns,  Towers,  Stedes  (farmsteads),  Barnckyns  (the  out- 
wards of  a  Castle,  containing  the  barns,  stables,  etc.), 
Parish  Churches,  Baste)  Houses  (monasteries  or  hospitals) 
cast  down  or  burned  .         .         .         .         .         .         192 

Scots  slain 403 

Prisoners  taken  .  .         .         .         .  .         .         .         816 

Nolt  (horned  cattle)  taken 10,386 

Sheep 12,492 

Nags  and  Geldings     ........       1296 

Goats 200 

Bolls  of  Corn 890 

In  sight  (household  furniture),  not  reckoned. 

No  wonder  that  the  Scotch  forays  were  popular  in  the  Border  counties 
when  they  afforded  such  plunder  ! 

He  was  also  present  at  a  muster  at  Howecarle  (?  Howgill  Castle  in 
Kirkby  Thore  parish)  20  February,  1558-9,  with — 

Light  Horseman,  furnished       ...... 

Bowman  ditto  ...... 

Footmen,  furnished  with  Jacks  or  Stel  Cootes  and  Stel   Capps 

Bows         .       7 
Ditto  ditto  Bills  .       6 

and  was  then  described  as  "  Gentleman  of  the  Parish  of  Brougham."^ 

He  married  before  1 549^  Jane,  eldest  daughter  and  coheiress  of 
Thomas  Lancaster*  of  Brampton,  co.  Westmorland.      (Her  name  is  spelt 

1   "  History  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  "  (Burn  and  Nicholson),  vol.  i.,  fo.  51. 

~  "  State  Papers  "  (Domestic),  Elizabeth,  1559,  vol.  ii.,  p.  ^6. 

3  Feet  of  Fines,  Westmorland,  Michaelmas  3  Edward  VI. 

*  Thomas  Lancaster  had  three  daughters :  the  eldest  married  Edward  Birkbeck  ;  the 
second,  Bridget,  married  John  Backhouse ;  and  the  youngest,  Elizabeth,  married  Gilbert 
Wharton  of  Kirkby  Thore;  we  shall  see  later  that  one  of  the  Orton  Birkbecks  married 
one  of  her  descendants. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  17 

Joan  in  three  cases/  but  her  will,  dated  10  December,  1599,  and  directing 
her  burial  at  Brougham,  is  signed  Jane.)  In  1552  he  exchanged  the  third 
part  of  the  Manor  of  Brampton,-  which  he  held  by  right  of  his  wife,  with 
Henry,  Earl  of  Cumberland,  for  the  estate  of  Hornby  and  Udfoot,  entailed 
on  his  heirs  male,  and  held  by  homage  at  a  yearly  rent  of  £6,  and  paying 
on  every  death  one  gelding  of  the  price  of  £^,  and  a  cast  of  merlins,  or 
three  crowns  of  gold.-' 

Edward  Birkbeck  re-settled,  a.d.  1550,  on  Elizabeth  Symson,  the 
daughter  of  his  deceased  eldest  brother,  the  properties  of  which  he  had 
taken  possession  after  the  burning  of  the  settlement  deeds.* 

He  died  before  1593,^  and  was  buried  at  St.  Ninian's,  Brougham,'^ 
having  had  seven  sons  and  three  daughters  : — 

Thomas  {i-ide  infra).  Elioner,  married  ....  Lough. 

Henry  (p.  19).  Barbaric,  married  Mungo  Scott. 

Richard  (p.  19).  Elizabeth,  married  Ninian  Middleton. 

Ambrose  (p.  20). 

Cuthbert  (p.  20). 

Edward  (p.  21). 

Henry  (p.  21). 

The  eldest  son,  THOMAS  BYRKBECK'  of  Hornby,  succeeded  to 
all  his  father's  manors  and  lands  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland.  He 
married  Joan,  daughter  and  coheiress  of  Ambrose  Lancaster,  the  fourth  son  of 

1  Feet  of  Fines,  Westmorland,  Michaelmas  3  Edward  VI.,  Michaelmas  6  Edward 
VI.,  and  Michaelmas  Elizabeth. 

-  Notes  of  Fines,  Michaelmas  6  Edward  VI. 

^  Inq.  post  mortem  of  Edward  Birkbeck  (the  grandson  of  the  above),  I. P.M.  Misc. 
9  Charles  I.,  part  ii.,  138. 

•*  Feet  of  Fines,  Cumberland,  2  and  3  Philip  and  Mary,  packet  v. 

^   Feet  of  Fines,  Cumberland,  Easter  35  Elizabeth,  packet  xxxviii. 

*  Will  of  his  widow,  dated  10  December,  1599;  proved  April,  1601. 

'  It  was  the  custom  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  to  christen  the  eldest  son  hy 
the  name  of  his  grandfather,  and  this  is  still  the  case  in  Norway. 


1 8  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

Lancelot  Lancaster  of  Sockbridge.  She  was  living  at  the  time  of  his  death 
"  in  old  age."  He  added  considerably  to  his  landed  possessions,  but  except 
in  these  purchases  I  have  found  but  few  references  to  his  name.  He  was 
one  of  the  Commissioners  for  the  Inq.  post  mortem  of  George,  3rd  Earl 
of  Cumberland,  ad.  1605.  From  his  will,  dated  24  September,  1608,  and 
proved  27  February,  1609-10,  he  would  appear  to  have  been  a  Protestant. 
He  entailed  Hornby  on  Edward,  his  eldest  son,  "  ye  hall  as  it  standeth, 
with  tables,  wainscott,  bufFetts,  and  formes,"  etc.,  "as  heyrelooms  in 
the  same  house  after  my  wyfes  decease,"  "  and  all  such  lands  as  I  have 
purchased  within  the  countyes  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland,  and  other 
lands  which  came  to  me  by  descent."  Various  bequests  to  his  children,  and 
gifts  to  the  poor  of  Penrith,  Clifton,  Melkinthorp,  Cliburn,  Kirkby  Thore, 
Sowerby,  Newbiggin,  Culgaith,  and  "  ye  poor  of  ye  parish  where  I  dwell, 
and  to  ye  Church  Stock  there  for  increase  thereof."  A  codicil,  dated 
16  August,  1609,  directs,  "Also  I  will  and  my  mind  is  yt  if  any  before 
named  goe  about  either  by  themselves  or  others  by  their  procurement 
which  is  to  have  any  benefit  or  profitt  by  this  my  last  will  and  testament, 
for  to  imbessell,  filch,  purloine,  or  carry  away  before  or  after  my  death 
any  of  my  goods,  chattels,  etc.,  then  he  or  she  so  doing  shall  lose  and  want 
ye  benefitt  yt  this  my  said  will  to  him  or  her  so  willed.  I  doe  insert  this 
provision  to  my  said  will  because  I  would  have  all  things  done  and  managed 
with  truth  and  honesty  amongst  those  to  whom  I  have  given  any  benefit 
by  this  my  said  will." 

He  died  8  January,  1609-10,^  and  was  buried  at  Brougham.      He  had 
three  sons  and  four  daughters  : — 

Edward  (vide  p.  21).  Elizabeth. 

Henry  (p.  22).  Eillen. 

Simon  (p.  24).  Agnes. 

Jane. 

'   Inq.  post  mortem  9  James  I.,  Misc.,  Elizabeth — Charles  I.,  p.  10,  No.  109. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  19 

HENRY  BYRKBECK  I  place  as  the  second  son  {vide  p.  17)  of 
Edward  Birkbeck  on  account  of  his  sons  being  placed  by  their  uncle  Thomas 
next  in  tail  to  his  own  sons,  and  before  his  surviving  brothers.  No  doubt 
Henry  was  himself  deceased  in  1609,  not  being  mentioned  in  the  will,  but 
he  is  mentioned  in  his  mother's  will  in  1599,  as  well  as  in  that  of  his 
brother  Ambrose. 

As  mentioned  (p.  11),  he  was  sued  by  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  in 
1566  for  forcibly  entering  and  hunting  in  Brougham  Park  without  leave, 
and  taking  his  deer.  Henry  Birkbeck  was  in  good  company  if  he  were  a 
poacher,  for  a  Musgrave,  a  Lowther,  and  four  Whartons  were  in  the  same 
plight.  They  were  all  described  as  gentlemen.  I  do  not  know  who  he 
married,  but  he  had  two  sons,  George  and  Edward,  mentioned  in  the  will 
of  their  uncle  Thomas,  a.d,  1608,  and  one  daughter,  Jane,  who  married  a 
Whepdale,  mentioned  in  the  will  of  her  grandmother  Jane,  a.d.  1599. 

RICHARD  BYRKBECK  of  Morton  Tynmouth,  parish  of  Gainford, 
CO.  Durham,  placed  third  son  [vide  p.  17)  of  Edward,  being  fifth  in  tail, 
married  at  Gainford,  i  September,  1597,  Anne,  widow  of  Francis  Bainbridge, 
and  second  daughter  and  coheiress  of  Ralph  Alwent  of  Morton  Tynmouth. 
She  was  buried  at  Gainford  29  May,  1623.' 

He  was  buried  at  Gainford  21  March,  1623,  having  had  three  sons 
and  five  daughters  : — 

Thomas  [vide  infra).  Mary,  married  John  Morgan. 

Henry,  born  2  August,  16 12.  Margaret. 

Richard,     born     19     June,     16 14,  Jane,  married  William  Iley. 

admitted  Gray's  Inn,  i  5  March,  Anne. 

1638.  Bridget. 

Thomas  Birkbeck,  baptized  30  December,  1601,  was  a  Captain  in  the 
King's  Forces  under  the  Earl  of  Newcastle  ;  he  was  sequestered  a.d.  1652. 

1  Inq.  post  mortem  i8  August  21  James  I.  (Durham  Records;  Pub.  Rec,  xliv., 
P-  343)- 


20  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

On  the  north  wall  of  the  chancel  of  Gainford  Church  there  is  a  brass  plate 
in  memory  of  his  wife.  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  who  she  was,  or 
to  identify  her  arms.  He  was  buried  i8  April,  1677,  having  had  one  son, 
Thomas,  and  one  daughter,  Catherine,  who  both  died  before  him. 

AMBROSE  BYRKBECK  of  Great  Chilton,  co.  Durham,  younger 
son  of  Edward  [vide  p.  17),  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Richard  Bowes 
of  Aske,  and  widow  of  Thomas  Middleton.  His  will,  dated  7  December, 
1594,  and  proved  the  same  month,  mentions  no  children,  and  leaves  his 
property  to  his  brothers.     His  widow  died  16  September,  161 6. 

REV.  CUTHBERT  BYRKBECK,  younger  son  of  Edward  (r/We 
p.  17),  is  mentioned  as  "  Syr  Hylbert  Byrbeck,  Vickar  off  Lamffae,  1608," 
in  the  following  pedigree  in  Dwnn's  Visitations  of  Wales  and  part  of  the 
Marches  between  a.i).  1586  and  1613  (vol.  i.,  p.  191). 


Tomas  Byrbeck  Esq''=p.  .  .  . 


i 
Edward  Byrbeck  Esq.=pjan  koeyr  to  Tomas  Lonkaster. 


Tomas=pJowan 


Byrbeck 


II  III  I  I  I 

Syr  Hylbert     4.  Edward,     i.  Elsbeth.     2.   Barbra      3.    Elnor 


do.  to  Byrbeck  Vickar  —  mared    to       mared  mared 

Ambros        off     Lamffae  5.   Ricliard      Einion  Mwngi  Hari 

Loncas-         1608.  1608.  Medlton.         le  Skot.  Loch, 

ter.  —  — 

3.   Hari.  6.   Harri. 


Hi  bereth  Argent  a  ffs.  check  Or  an  G :  2  leions  hiets  erasyd  G;  in  bas  powynt  a  Bors 
hied  kopied  G. 

His  name,  however,  clearly  was  Cuthbert,  as  the  Rev.  Cuthbert  Birkbeck 
was  instituted  Rector  of  Loveston,  co.  Pembroke,  2  May,  1590,  and  Vicar 
of  Lamphey  in  the  same  county  17  March,  1597-8.     His  will  also  is  signed 


'  O  God,  prevent  error." 


-  In  Pembrokeshire. 


ih?o  lrlAl.¥iB5JRCIgiECIlSoWJirE1tD  M=^ 

m 


nm  mti 


m'^mihm  i 


BRASS    IN    CHANCEL    OF   GAINFORD    CHURCH. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  21 

Cuthbert,  being  dated  12  September,  16  13,  and  proved  the  following  Novem- 
ber. It  directs  his  burial  in  the  chancel  of  Lamphey,  mentions  his  Clerk  and 
Sermonere  of  Loveston,  and  bequeaths  his  surplus  to  the  poor  of  Lamphey. 

Another  younger  son,  Edward  {vide  p.  17),  is  only  mentioned  by 
Dwnn. 

The  youngest  son  Henry  is  also  only  mentioned  by  Dwnn.  He 
possibly  became  a  priest  {ride  p.  54),  in  which  case  he  was  admitted  to  the 
English  College  at  Valladolid  16  November,  1609,  took  the  missionary 
oaths  22  June,  16 10,  and  died  in  the  College  in  September,  161 1.  It  was 
not  unusual  to  call  two  brothers  by  the  same  name  at  that  date. 

Having  disposed  of  the  children  of  Edward,  we  must  return  to  those 
of  his  eldest  son. 

EDWARD  BIRKBECK  of  Hornby,  eldest  son  of  Thomas  (p.  18), 
born  A.D.  1565,^  married  before  1608  Bridget,  daughter  of  John  Calvert  of 
Cockerham,  co.  Lancaster.  She  was  a  staunch  Roman  Catholic,  though 
her  husband  would  appear  to  have  been  a  Protestant,  as  on  13  October, 
1629,  he  was  fined  "  £6  13s.  4d.  by  the  year  for  the  recusancy  of  Bridgett 
his  wife,"  and  having  failed  to  make  the  annual  payment,  he  was  twice 
afterwards  fined  £.\oJ^  She  married,  secondly,  John  Lawson  of  St.  Anthony, 
Northumberland,  and  was  living  at  Hornby  in  165  i,  being  constantly  fined 
for  recusancy. 

The  Hornby  family  are  generally  said  to  have  been  Roman  Catholics 
all  through,  but  I  am  inclined  to  doubt  this.  From  the  time  of  their  going 
to  Hornby  until  this  marriage  I  have  not  found  anything  to  shew  they 
were  not  Protestants,  but  from  this  period  there  are  constant  references  to 
the  fact.  The  wills  throw  no  certain  light  upon  the  subject.  Before  the 
Reformation  most  wills  begin  by  commending  the  testator's  soul  to  the 
Virgin  and  saints.     The  will  of  Thomas  Birkbeck   in    1608    commences 

'  Inq.  post  mortem  of  Thomas  Birkbeck,  Misc.,  Elizabeth — Charles  11.,  part  x.,  109. 
-  Recusant  Rolls,  8,  9,  21,  and  23  Charles  I. 


22  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

with  a  very  usual  formula,  "  I  doe  give  my  soule  unto  the  Almighty  God 
my  Maker  and  Redeemer,"  but  the  wills  were  usually  drawn  by  Protestant 
lawyers,  and  a  Roman  Catholic  probably  would  not  dare  to  use  any  but  the 
usual  phrases.  This  will  contains  bequests  to  the  poor  of  nine  parishes, 
and  to  "ye  Church  Stock  of  ye  parish  where  I  dwell."  I  am  told  that 
Roman  Catholics  of  position  frequently  left  bequests  to  the  poor  in  very 
similar  terms,  but  I  certainly  think  that  this  gift  to  the  "  Church  Stock  "  of 
a  Protestant  church  would  probably  not  have  been  made  by  a  good  Catholic. 
The  fact  of  their  being  buried  in  their  parish  churchyards  proves  nothing, 
as  it  was  unavoidable. 

1  have  been  unable  to  find  the  will  of  Edward  Birkbeck,  which  is 
mentioned  in  the  Inq.  post  mortem'  as  having  been  dated  1 1  January, 
1 63 1-2,  the  day  on  which  he  died. 

He  left  five  sons  and  two  daughters  : — 

1.  Henry  (p.  24).  Jane,  living  unmarried    1675-6. 

2.  Edward  (p.  25).  Bridget,  married  John  Cornforth 

3.  Richard  (p.  25).  of   Blackwell,    co.    Durham, 

4.  Thomas  (p.  25).  1671. 

5.  John  (p.  25). 

HENRY  BIRKBECK  of  Headlam,  parish  of  Gainford,  co.  Durham, 
second  son  of  Thomas  (r/f/e  p.  18),  was  not  included  in  the  entail  of  Hornby 
by  his  flither,  although  mentioned  in  his  will  and  in  those  of  his  grandmother 
Jane  and  his  uncle  Ambrose.  He  married,  26  May,  1606,  Anne,  widow 
of  Christopher  Hutton  of  Hunwick,  and  daughter  of  Henry  Brackenbury 
of  Sellaby,  parish  of  Gainford.  He  bought  the  estate  of  Headlam  from 
Ambrose  Lancaster  in  1611."  The  house  he  built  is  still  standing,  and 
though  partly  rebuilt,  the  mantelpiece  in  the  hall  still  contains  a  shield  with 
the  arms  of  Henry  Birkbeck  and  his  wife — A  fess  compony  between  three 

'    Intj.  post  mortem  9  Charles  I.,  part  ii.,  138. 

'-  Fines,  9  and  12  James  I.  (Surtees'  "History  of  Durham,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  30). 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  23 

lions'  heads  erased,  a  crescent  for  difference ;  impaling,  three  chevronels 
interlaced,  Brackenbury.  The  mantelpiece  is  very  similar  to  one  at 
Hornby  {vide  p.  37),  and  probably  was  copied  from  it.  There  was  also  a 
large  full-length  picture  which  is  said  to  be  a  portrait  of  Henry  Birkbeck, 
inscribed,  "Sus  etatis  c,^  Anno  1619  ;"  this  would  place  his  birth  a.d.  1564; 
and  his  elder  brother  is  stated  at  the  date  of  his  father's  death  (8  January, 
1609-10)  to  have  been  "  44  years  and  more,"'  so  the  latter  was  apparently 
born  1665  ;  it  now  belongs  to  Mr.  Brockett,  Long  Benton,  Newcastle-on- 
Tyne.  The  following  shields  in  stained  glass  were  in  the  mullioned 
window  on  the  staircase,  but  have  been  removed,  and  are  now  at  Lancaster 
in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Holden,  the  former  owner  of  Headlam,  which 
is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Hett,  Mr.  Holden  being  descended  from 
Eleanor,  the  only  daughter  of  Henry  Birkbeck  : — 

A  fess  compony  between  three  lions'  heads  erased  gules,  Birkbeck  ; 
impaling,  azure,  a  fret  argent. 

Quarterly:  i  and  4,  Birkbeck,  as  before  ;  2  and  3,  Argent,  two  bars 
gules,  on  a  canton  of  the  second  a  mullet  of  the  first,  Lancaster  ;  impaling, 
Lancaster,  as  before. 

Birkbeck  impaling  Lancaster. 

Birkbeck  impaling,  Sable,  an  orle  ermine,  semee  of  owls  argent.^ 

In  the  first  shield  the  lady's  arms  are  evidently  intended  for  Clifford, 
but  the  blazoning  is  somewhat  different  from  the  shield  at  Hornby  {vide 
p.  33).     In  the  fourth  shield  they  are  Calvert  of  Cockerham. 

Mr.  Holden  kindly  sent  me  a  photograph  of  a  silver-gilt  cup  belonging 
to  Mr.  John  Dale  of  Netterbank,  Scarborough,  who  is  also  a  direct 
descendant  of  Henry  Birkbeck  ;  it  is  9  inches  high,  with  the  inscription, 
"  Thys  was  the  gyft  of  ThoMAS  Birkbecke,  Esqvir'',  to  M.  Anne 
Birkbecke  his  Davghter  in  Law  :    1609."     Below  which,  on  a  shield,  the 

1  Inq.  post  mortem  of  Thomas  Birkbeck,  Misc.,  Elizabeth — Charles  II.,  part  x.,,  109. 
-  "  Antiquities  of  Gainford  "  (J.  R.  Walbran),  p.  108. 


24  THE   BIRKBFXKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

arms  :  A  fess  compony  between  three  lions'  heads  ;  impaling,  two  bars, 
on  a  canton  a  mullet  of  five  points,  pierced.  The  hall  mark  is  D,  the  York 
mark  for  1609. 

Henry  Birkbeck  was  buried  at  Gainford  18  May,  1638,  leaving  one 
daughter,  Ealenor,  baptized  15  April,  161 3  ;  married  first,  12  April, 
1631,  Robert  Merrington  ;  and  second,  24  April,  1636,  Henry  Draper, 
by  whom  she  left  issue.     She  was  buried  at  Gainford  14  April,  1649. 

REV.  SIMON  BIRKBECK,  third  son  of  Thomas  (p.  18),  second  in 
tail  to  Hornby  failing  his  brothers'  sons,  was  admitted  at  the  age  of  16  to 
(^een's  College,  Oxford,  in  the  year  1600,  M.A.  1607,  and  afterwards 
Fellow.  In  16 17  he  became  Vicar  of  Gilling  and  Forcet,  co.  York,  "  by 
the  favour  of  his  kinsman,  Humphrey  Wharton  "^  (the  latter  was  great-great- 
grandson  of  John  Wharton  of  Kirkby  Thore,  who  married  Isabella,  daughter 
of  John  Lancaster  of  Brampton,  18  Henry  VI.).  Having  submitted  during 
the  Commonwealth  he  retained  his  benefices  till  his  death.  He  was  the  author 
of  "  The  Protestants'  Evidence,"  a  history  of  the  Church  arranged  in 
centuries,  shewing  that  he  was  a  deeply-read  man.  In  the  title-page  and 
dedication  of  the  first  edition  (a.d.  1635),  which  I  have,  his  name  is  spelt 
Birckbek.  His  will,  dated  1 1  September,  1656,  commences,  "  Being  perfect 
in  remembrance,  God's  name  be  blessed  for  it,  doe  with  Hezekiah  desire  to 
set  my  house  in  order."  He  was  buried  three  days  afterwards  in  Forcet 
Chapel,  and  over  his  grave  is  a  marble  with  "  Hie  jacet  Simon  Birckbek  socius 
colleg.  Regins  in  Oxon  Bachalaur  sacr.  theolog.  Pastor  ecgles  de  Gilling  et 
Forcet  et  filius  Thoms  de  Hornbie  in  Westmerl.  armig.  Resurgam.      1656." 

HENRY  BIRKBECK  of  Hornby,  eldest  son  of  Edward  (p.  22),  born 
I  5  June,  1620."  On  his  father's  death,  his  mother,  who  had  married  again, 
took  possession   of  the   property,    and   he  brought  a  suit  to  recover  it.^ 


1   Surtees'  "  History  of  Durham,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  25. 

-  Iiiq.  post  mortem  of  Edward  Birkbeck,  Misc.,  9  Charles  I.,  part  ii.,  138. 

3  Chancery  Proceedings,  Charles  I.,  B  B.  Ixi.,  48. 


SILVER    CUP    GIVEN    BY    THOMAS    BIRKBECK    TO    ANNE    BIRKBECK    OF    HEADLAM. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND.  25 

During  the  progress  of  the  suit*  he  died.  He  may  probably  have  been 
"  Henry  Burbeck,  Captaine  under  ye  Lord  Widdrington,"  buried  at  Holy 
Trinity  Church,  Goodramgate,  York,  15  May,  1644,  as  Dugdale's 
Visitation  certifies  him  to  have  died  a.d.  1644  (Lord  Widdrington  was 
a  Royalist,  and  killed  at  the  battle  of  Wigan  165  i).  The  three  brothers, 
Henry,  Edward,  and  Richard  were  "  in  arms  at  Carlisle  and  elsewhere  " 
against  the  Parliamentarians.^  He  married  Eleanor,  daughter  of  George 
Poole  of  Wakebridge,  co.  Derby.  She  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  buried 
at  St.  Ninian's,  Brougham,  8  February,  169 1-2.  Henry  Birkbeck  left  two 
sons, 

Thomas  {infra)  and  Gervase  (p.  27). 

EDWARD  BIRKBECK,  second  son  of  Edward  (p.  22),  inherited  the 
Manor  of  Melkinthorpe,  which  he  sold,  a.d.  1656,  to  Sir  John  Lowther. 
He  thought  himself  "  one  of  the  poorest  lords  in  England."^  He  was  buried 
at  Brougham  31  December,  1688. 

RICHARD  BIRKBECK,  third  son  of  Edward  (p.  22),  was  in  1685 
acting  as  manager  to  his  brother  Henry's  widow  at  Carlton  Hall,  Yorkshire. 
He  was  buried  at  Brougham  2  April,  1697. 

THOMAS  and  JOHN,  the  younger  sons  of  Edward  (p.  22),  both 
died  unmarried  before  1664. 

THOMAS  BIRKBECK  of  Hornby,  eldest  son  of  Henry  {.mpra), 
xt.  23  A.D.  1664-5.'*  A  suit  was  also  brought  by  his  mother  in  his  name, 
when  8  years  of  age,  a.d.  1650,  against  his  grandmother,  Bridgett  Lawson, 
to  recover  his  property,  of  which  she  had  taken  possession.'  His  pedigree 
as  certified  in  Dugdale's  Visitation  of  Westmorland  is  as  follows  : — 


^   Chancery  Proceedings  before  17 14,  Bridges,  \v.,  378. 

-  Cal.  Com.  for  Compounding,  !.,  501. 

^   Chancery  Proceedings  before  17 14,  Hamilton,  iii.,  404. 

•*  Dugdale's  Visitation  of  Westmorland,  a.d.  1664,  G.  39,  fo.  6  (College  of  Arms). 

'"  Chancery  Proceedings  before  1714,  Bridges,  iv.,  378. 


26  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


Thomas  Birkbeck  of=f=.  .  .  .  daughter  of  ...  .  Lancaster,  a  younger 
Hornby  in  Com.  son  of  the  House  of  Lancaster,  of  Stockbridge 
Westmorland.  in  Com.  Westmorland. 


Edward  Birkbeck  of  Hornby  in  Com.  Westmerl.=pBridget,  daughter  of  John  Calvert  of 
Esq.  dyed  circa  annum  1634.  Cockerham  in  Com.  Lane. 

n          i         ~         \                    ]  in 

4.  Edward.     2.  Thomas.     3.  John.      i.   Henry  Birkbeck=pEllen,  daughter  of     i.  Jane. 

George     Poole    of  — 

Wakebridge        in     2.  Bridget. 
Com.  Derby. 


)f    Horneby     Esq'' 
Richard.          Dyed  unmarried.          dyed  in  a"  1644  or 
thereabouts. 


1.  Gervase      Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Horneby  Esq''  ?etatis  23  annorum  22  Martii  1664. 
Birkbeck. 


rtifiedby     /^mOU^    (^ir^J<^o{<^ 


Ce 

[The  facsimile  of  his  signature  is  taken  from  the  original  visitation  at  the  College  of  Arms.] 

He    married    Margaret,    daughter    and    coheir    of  John  Catterick  of 

Carlton    Hall,    in    the    parish   of   Gilling,    co.   York.      She   was   a   Roman 

Catholic  as  well  as  her  husband.      Her  will,  dated  3  June,    1685,  contains  a 

touching  injunction   "  desiring  her  eldest  son  to  be  Loving  and  kind  to  his 

younger  brothers  and   sisters,  and   to  be  carefull  in  ye  choice  of  a  wife  and 

ye  management  of  his  estates,"  which  latter  advice  he  certainly  failed   to 

observe.     She  was  buried  at  Brougham  5  June,  1685.     Shortly  before  the 

death  of  Thomas  Birkbeck  there  is  an  entry  in  the  "  Extracts  from  the  Day 

Book  of  Anne,  Countess  of  Pembroke,"  preserved  at  Appleby  Castle,  dated 

17  January,  1675-6,  when  she  was  living  at  Brougham  Castle  : — 

To-day  there  Dined  without,  with  my  Folks,  my  cousin  Mr.  Thomas  Burbeck 
of  Hornby  and  his  wife  and  their  little  Daughter  and  his  Father  in  Law  Mr, 
Catterick  and  his  wife  and  his  mother,  and  there  also  dined  here  Mr.  Robert 
Carleton,  only  son  to  the  widow  Lady  Carleton,  so  that  after  Dinner  I  had  them 
all  into  my  chamber  and  kissed  the  Women  and  took  the  Men  by  the  Hand.  And 
I  gave  to  my  cousin  Mr.  Burbeck  and  his  Wife  each  Ten  Shillings,  and  to  his 
Mother  'I'en  Shillings,  and  to  his  Father  in  Law  Mr.  Catterick  and  his  Wife  each 
of  them  Ten  Shillings,  and  six  shillings  to  the  child,  and  I  gave  Mr.  Carleton  a 
pair  of  Buckskin  Gloves,  and  then  they  all  went  away.  I  went  not  out  of  the 
i  louse  nor  out  of  niv  Chamber  this  Dav. 


THE   BIRKBECKS  OF  WESTMORLAND.  27 

This  entry  is  not  in  the  "  Diary  "  at  Appleby  Castle,  nor  in  the  MS. 
copy  in  the  British  Museum,  which  both  end  30  November,  1675  ;  but  is 
in  a  MS.  "Extracts  from  the  Day  Book,"  which  commence  January,  1675-6, 
and  end  21  March,  the  day  before  her  death,  being  apparently  memoranda 
jotted  day  by  day,  and  death  prevented  their  being  enrolled  in  the 
"  Diary."  It  seems  to  have  been  her  custom  to  make  presents  to  her  guests 
on  leaving,  generally  from  2s.  6d.  to  5s.  in  money,  or  a  pair  of  gloves,  so 
Thomas  Birkbeck  and  his  relatives  were  markedly  favoured.  What  the 
cousinship  was  I  cannot  say,  unless  it  was  connected  with  the  sinister  Clifford 
marriage  to  which  Machell  alludes  (p.  34).  Anne,  Countess  of  Pembroke, 
was  granddaughter  of  Henry,  second  Earl  of  Cumberland,  who  granted 
Hornby  to  Edward  Birkbeck  a.d.  1552.  Thomas  Birkbeck's  will  was 
dated  2  July,  1676,  and  proved  5  December  the  same  year.  He  was 
apparently  buried  at  Brougham,  as  the  will  of  his  widow  directs  her  burial 
near  his  grave  there. 

He  left  four  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 
•     •  Catterick  (infra).  Mary  (p.  30). 

Edward  (p.  29). 
Gervase  (p.  29). 
Thomas  (p.  30). 

GERVASE  BIRKBECK,  second  son  of  Henry  (p.  25),  "died  an 
ensign  in  the  King's  Foot  Guards  in  London,"^  and  was  buried  1 7  Novem- 
ber, 1674,  at  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster. 

CATTERICK  BIRKBECK,  eldest  son  of  Thomas  (mpra),  in  the 
words  of  Machell,  "  made  an  end  of  Hornby  by  gaming  and  fooling." 
He  was  baptized  at  Stanwick  17  April,  1668,  and  married  in  1690  Mary, 
eldest  daughter  and  coheiress  of  Robert  Peirson  of  Bishops  Medlam, 
CO.  Durham,  by   Mary,  sister  of  Viscount  Cullen  :    she  had  a  fortune  ot 

*  Machell's  MSS.,  vol.  v.,  p.  579,  in  the  possession  of  Rev.  Richard  B.  Machell,  Roos 
Rectory,  Yorkshire. 

E    2 


28  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

jT  1 0,000,  which  he  undertook  to  settle  on  her,  but  failed  to  do.'  She 
was  buried  at  Stanwick  26  December,  1693,  before  she  was  of  age. 

P>om  the  year  he  came  of  age  to  his  death  he  was  involved  in  lawsuits 
and  vain  attempts  to  regain  the  property  he  had  squandered.  He  charges 
his  kinsman  Thomas  Pulleine  with  having  induced  him  to  convey  his 
Carleton  estate  to  him,  in  order  to  save  it  from  sequestration  as  the  property 
of  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  "  insinuated  to  him  the  inevitable  ruin  of  the  men 
of  his  persuasion,"  that  his  estates  would  soon  be  sequestered,  "  that  no 
person  could  so  well  save  the  estate  from  sequestration  and  ruin  as  himself;" 
and  "  shortly  afterwards  induced  him,  being  young  and  inexperienced,  to  go 
with  him  to  Newmarket  to  see  the  horse-courses,  and  from  thence  to 
London,  under  pretence  of  securing  him  a  good  fortune  in  the  way  of 
marriage.  One  night  he  got  him  to  play  cards  at  a  game  called  '  Put,' 
which  he  httle  understood."  Catterick  then  "  questioned  some  deceit  in 
playing  by  the  reflection  of  a  polished  snuff-box  which  Pulleine  laid  upon 
the  table,  which  shewed  him  the  cards  as  they  were  dealt.""  One  of  his 
wagers  was  ^^50  that  the  late  King  James  would  be  settled  on  his  throne 
before  Christmas  1689.  In  another  suit  he  accuses  his  wife's  uncle.  Viscount 
CuUen,  of  withholding  part  of  his  wife's  fortune,  she  having  married 
without  Lord  Cullen's  consent.' 

He   borrowed  money  from  Robert  Benson,  a  Quaker  in  Penrith,  in 

order    to    free    himself   from    Pulleine,  and    assigned    Hornby  to    him    as 

security.     The  conveyance  mentions  the  estate  as  comprising  "  6  messuages, 

10  cottages,    3  tofts,    i  dovecot,  4  barns,   3  gardens,    3  orchards,  5  acres  of 

land,  60  acres  meadow,  1000  acres  pasture,  400  acres  wood,  500  acres  furze 

and    heath,    1000   acres   moor,    free-warren,  free   fishing  and  common  of 

pasture    in    Hornby,    Hudfoote,    and    the    parish    of   Burgham,    otherwise 

'   Chancery  Proceedings,  1714 — 1758,  Zinck   1699  and   Winter   786;  and    Chancery 
Proceedings  before  17 14,  Hamilton,  i.,  314. 

-  Chancery  Proceedings  before  1714,  Whittington,  iv.,  279,  A. 
^  Hid.,  i.,  512. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  29 

Broham,  otherwise  Broom."'  He  finally  sold  Hornby  to  Thomas  Dalston 
of  Penrith,  who  had  been  his  guardian  during  his  minority,  having  with  the 
aid  of  his  brothers  and  sister  cut  ofF  the  entail,^  but  they  were  robbed  of 
their  stipulated  portions  charged  on  Carleton,  which  was  sold  to  PuUeine  for 
half  its  value.^ 

There  would  appear  to  have  been  some  foundation  for  Catterick's 
charges  against  Pulleine,  as  he  obtained  a  decree  in  Chancery  ordering  the 
latter  to  deliver  up  Carleton  to  him  on  repayment  of  ;^36io,  but  the  unfor- 
tunate Catterick  was  unable  to  produce  the  money.* 

By  1699  he  was  in  the  Fleet  Prison,  where  Pulleine  threatened  to  keep 
him  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  he  appears  to  have  passed  most  of  his  life 
there.  His  will,  made  in  Wild  Street,  is  dated  16  April,  1722,  and  proved 
17  June,  1733.  He  left  one  son,  Edward,  who  married  Ann  .  .  .  .,  she 
survived  him,  but  had  no  children.      Edward  died  in  September,  1 740.' 

EDWARD  BIRKBECK,  second  son  of  Thomas  (p.  27),  born 
24  December,  1667,  became  a  Priest  ;  he  was  educated  at  the  College  of 
St.  Omer,  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  7  September,  1690,  and  professed  the 
Four  Vows  2  February,  1708.  In  1706  he  was  serving  the  Missions  in  the 
south  of  England.  Died  at  Ghent  9  January,  1722-3."  Administration 
granted  5  March,  1727-8,  to  his  nephew  Edward. 

GERVASE  BIRKBECK,  third  son  of  Thomas  (p.  27),  born  1675  ; 
entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  7  September,  1698;  was  ordained  Priest  at 
the  English  College  at  Rome  20  December,  1710,  and  left  for  Flanders 
to  be  Confessor  to  a  Convent  of  English  Nuns  19  April,  1711.'^  Living 
5  March,  1727-8. 

1   Feet  of  Fines,  William  and  Mary,  packet  iii. 

-  Chancery  Proceedings,  1714 — 1758,  Reynardson,  A.  2392. 

^  Chancery  Proceedings  before  1714,  Bridges,  iii.,  285. 

*  Chancery  Decrees,  A.,  1696,  fo.  500*. 

=   Chancery  Proceedings,  1714 — 1758,  Woodford,  1078. 

^  Records  Society  of  Jesus  (H.  Foley),  vol.  Tii.,  fo.  598. 


30  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

THOMAS  BIRKBECK,  fourth  son  of  Thomas  (p.  27),  born  two 
months  after  his  father's  death.  Administration,  as  "  late  of  Great  Salkeld, 
CO.  Cumb.,"  granted  to  his  nephew  Edward  5  March,  1727-8. 

MARY  BIRKBECK,  daughter  of  Thomas  (p.  27),  was  aged  18  in 
1690,  and  was  living  unmarried  in  1728.  She  may  probably  have  been  the 
writer  of  a  letter  dated  Antwerp,  20  November,  1726,  addressed  to  John 
Caryll  of  Ladyholt,  Sussex,  thanking  for  "liberall  alms"  as  her  two  brothers 
were  in  Flanders.'  The  Carylls  were  an  old  and  staunch  Roman  Catholic 
family  in  Sussex. 

It  was  a  melancholy  end  to  a  family  which  had  so  good  a  record  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  No  doubt  they  had  been  much  impoverished  by  the 
harsh  and  cruel  penal  laws  against  Roman  Catholics,  and  by  their  loyalty  to 
Charles  I.,  but  Catterick's  weakness  and  folly  were  the  last  straw.  His 
brothers  and  sister  never  received  their  portions,  as  they  were  not  aware 
of  their  father's  will.^ 

Thomas  Dalston,  who  bought  Hornby,  left  no  children.  After  his 
death  it  passed  to  William  Dalston,  and  was  eventually  sold  to  the  Lowthers, 
being  now  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale. 

The  following  extracts  will  shew  the  severity  of  the  penal  laws  just 
mentioned  :  "  It  was  made  criminal  in  a  Papist  to  possess  arms  or  to  own  a 
horse  worth  more  than  ;^5  ;  to  say  Mass  or  to  keep  a  school  subjected  the 
Papist  to  perpetual  imprisonment.  The  informer  who  should  lead  to  the 
apprehension  of  a  priest  for  saying  Mass  received  ;/^ioo.  The  Papists  were 
incapable  of  inheriting  any  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments,  and  could  be 
called  upon  to  give  them  up  to  their  next-of-kin  ;  nor  could  any  Papist 
purchase  land  after  10  April,  1700.  Anyone  informing  against  a  Papist 
who  educated  his  children  beyond  the  seas,  as  at  Douay  or  St.  Omer, 
received  the  penalty  of  /iioo.     The  Acts  of  Elizabeth  making  it  death  for 

>  Add.  MSS.  28,618,  fo.  113. 

-  Chancery  Proceedings,  17x4 — 17 jS,  Reynardson,  A.  2400. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  31 

a  priest  to  be  in  England  were  unrepealed."^  "  If  any  English  priest  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  came  to  England  from  beyond  the  seas,  or  tarried  in 
England  three  days  without  conforming  to  the  Church,  he  was  guilty  of 
high  treason,  and  liable  to  death.  If  the  children  of  Papists  were  educated 
at  home,  and  the  schoolmaster  did  not  repair  to  church,  the  parents  were 
liable  to  forfeit  £10  a.  month,  and  the  schoolmaster  40s.  a  day.  If  they 
sent  their  children  abroad  for  education,  they  were  liable  to  forfeit  ;^ioo, 
and  the  children  so  sent  were  disabled  from  inheriting,  purchasing,  or 
enjoying  any  lands,  tenements,  or  other  profits.  Saying  Mass  was  punishable 
by  a  forfeiture  of  200  marks ;  hearing  Mass  by  a  forfeiture  of  100  marks."^ 
The  estate  of  Hornby  in  early  times  formed  part  of  the  Forest  of 
Whinfell,  the  property  of  the  Veteriponts,  and  later  of  the  Cliffords  and  the 
Earls  of  Cumberland.  Machell  says  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
when  the  forest  was  a  royal  one,  Hornby  was  the  residence  of  the  forester  ; 
afterwards,  when  it  came  into  the  hands  of  subjects  and  ceased  to  be  a 
royal  forest,  an  officer  called  a  bailiff  appears  to  have  lived  at  Hornby.^ 
In  35  Edward  III.  William  de  Horneby  held  the  office  of  bailiff  to  the 
Forest  of  Whynfell,^  and  in  9  Richard  II.  Roger  son  of  William  de  Horneby 
held  I  messuage  and  70  acres  land  and  the  office  of  bailiff  there.^  Camden 
makes  the  following  suggestion  as  to  the  derivation  of  the  name  : — 

By  the  side  of  Wliinfield  Park  is  Hart-horn-tree,  which  may  seem  to  give  name 
to  Hornby  Hall,  a  seat  of  the  Dalstons,  and  to  have  borrowed  its  own  from  a  stag 
which  was  coursed  by  a  single  greyhound  to  the  Red  Kirk  in  Scotland  and  back 
again  to  this  place,  where  being  spent  the  stag  leapt  the  pales,  but  dyed  on  the 
other  side  ;  and  the  greyhound  attempting  to  leap  fell  and  dyed  on  this  side. 
Whence  thev  nailed  up  their  heads  upon  the  tree;  and  the  dog's  name  being 
Hercules,  they  made  this  rhyme  upon  them — 

Hercules  killed  Hart-a-greese, 

And  Hart-a-greese  killed  Hercules." 

1  "  Life  of  Cardinal  Wiseman  "  (W.  Ward),  vol.  !.,  p.  184. 

-  "  A  Guide  to  the  Principal  Documents  in  the  Record  Office"  (S.  R.  Scargill-Bird), 
p.  184.  3  Machell  MSS.,  p.  569.  '  Rot.  Orig.,  R.  5. 

5  Inq.  post  mortem.  "  Camden's  "  Britannia,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  994. 


32  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

The  Rector  of  St.  Ninian's,  the  parish  church,  had  and  still  has  at 
Hornby  Hall  on  Sundays,  if  he  chooses  to  claim  it,  what  is  called  a 
"  Whittle  Gate,"  viz.,  board  and  lodging.  The  patron  saint  St.  Ninian  was 
a  Cumbrian  Prince  and  Christian  missionary,  who  built  the  first  stone  church 
between  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde,  the  "  Candida  Casa "  at  Whithern  in 
Wigtonshire  ;  this  was  200  years  before  St.  Augustine.  The  name  is  a 
very  rare  one  as  patron  saint,  but  is  occasionally  met  with  as  a  Christian 
name.  Ninian  Middleton  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Eciward  Birkbeck, 
to  whom  Hornby  was  granted  (p.  17). 

Hornby  Hall  is  about  four  miles  from  Penrith,  in  the  parish  of 
Brougham,  and  stands  on  a  rising  bank  overlooking  the  Eamont  on  the 
Westmorland  side  of  the  river.  It  is  rented  from  Lord  Lonsdale  by  George 
Hutchinson,  Esq.,  whose  brother  William  was  living  there  in  1886,  and  was 
most  obliging  in  shewing  me  everything  of  interest.  The  farm  is  now  only 
635  acres,  instead  of  the  3000  acres  which  Catterick  Birkbeck  mortgaged. 
There  is  an  interesting  account  of  Hornby  by  Dr.  Taylor  in  the  "Trans- 
actions of  the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian  Society,"  vol.  iv., 
p.  392,  from  which  I  have  supplemented  the  notes  I  made  on  the  spot. 

The  house  is  solidly  built  of  dark  sandstone  and  roofed  with  flagstones, 
o!:e  end  being  modern,  the  older  portion  having  mullioned  windows.  A 
feature  of  the  old  part  is  the  square  porch  turret  projecting  a  dozen  feet  in 
front  of  the  main  building,  and  carried  up  to  the  height  of  the  roof  ridge  ; 
the  outer  doorway  is  arched,  and  has  over  it  a  stone  escutcheon  with  several 
shields,  overgrown  with  ivy,  and  so  much  defaced  from  the  crumbling 
nature  of  the  stone  that  I  could  make  nothing  of  the  arms  except  a  helmet 
over  the  centre  shield.  Dr.  Haswell,  in  "  Notes  on  Local  Heraldry,"' 
considers  the  arms  to  be  Dalston  of  Acorn  Bank,  no  doubt  placed  there  by 
Thomas  Dalston. 

'  "Transactions  of  the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian  Society,"  vol.  xiv., 
i>.  160. 


THE    PORCH,    HORNBY    HALL. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  33 

Inside  the  porch  is  a  fine  oak  door,  and  beyond  it  another  small 
doorway  leads  up  by  a  narrow  winding  stone  staircase  to  two  small  rooms 
over  the  porch  ;  in  the  lower  one  on  the  ceiling  is  the  date  ^-^^  and  some 
acorns  ;  the  upper  room  was  the  chapel,  which  Dr.  Taylor  says  had  formerly 
a  piscina  in  the  south-east  corner,  and  not  many  years  ago  a  beautifully 
groined  and  ornamented  ceiling.  In  "  Domestic  Architecture  of  Fourteenth 
Century"  by  Parker,  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Copleston  is  quoted  that  the  word 
"  Oriel "  signified  the  porch  or  entrance  with  a  chapel  over  it,  giving 
authorities.      This  exactly  describes  the  Hornby  porch. 

In  the  Brougham  Parish  Register  the  Hornby  Birkbecks  are  often 
"  presented  as  Papists  "  by  the  churchwardens,  but  Edward  Birkbeck,  the 
poor  Lord  of  Melkenthorpe  Manor,  was  a  churchwarden  1676-7. 

Turning  from  the  porch  to  the  left  is  the  entrance  to  the  hall,  which  is 
2 1  feet  square.  One  of  the  windows  has  in  the  two  centre  lights  two  coats 
of  arms  in  coloured  glass.  The  arms  in  the  right-hand  shield  are — Clifford, 
Chequy  or  and  azure  a  fess  gules  (the  arms  of  the  Earls  of  Cumberland — 
Clifford — were,  Chequy  or  and  azure  a  fess  gules)  ;  those  on  the  left-hand 
shield  are  Birkbeck.  Dr.  Taylor  describes  them  as  Argent,  a  fess 
chequy  or  and  azure  between  three  boars'  heads  gules.  Dr.  Haswell  says 
the  fess  is  compony,  not  chequy.^  The  lower  portion  of  the  shield  has 
been  broken  ;  there  are  only  remaining  the  two  upper  heads,  which  might 
be  boars'  or  lions'.  I  took  them  to  be  lions',  and  the  remaining  portion  of 
the  fess  is  certainly  compony,  although  it  clearly  ought  to  have  been  chequy. 

Machell  notices  this  in  his  commeiits  on  Dugdale's  Visitation  a.d.  1664-5, 
on  the  very  day  the  Herald  certified  the  pedigree  of  Thomas  Birkbeck  of 
Hornby  : — 

The  Arms :  Arg.  a  Fess  chequy  or  &  sa.  Between  3  Lyonens  heads  errased, 
Gules  Ita  se  habet  in  Dug.  But  I  believe  this  is  a  mistake  in  ye  tracing  itj  for 
in    all    their   Armes    att    Hornby  the    Fess   is    Contercompone  or    <^    azure ;    he 

1  "  Transactions  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian  Society,"  vol.  xiv., 
p.  160. 


34  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

bore  3  Lyons  heads  <?#c.,  &  sometimes  he  bore  2  Lyons  heads  in  Chiefe  ^  a 
F.  Bores  head  in  bass ;  which  I  have  seen  confirmed  in  Visit.  West.  ^  Cumb. 
Circa  temp.  Hen.  8.     Mr.  Knight  sed  valeat  per  me  licet  tanto  viri  Authoritas.^ 

The  explanation  of  the  Clifford  shield  may  be  the  Clifford  marriage 
mentioned  by  Machell,  and  possibly  the  chequy  fess  in  the  Birkbeck  arms 
has  some  connection  therewith.  Machell,  without  giving  any  authority, 
states  that  "  the  estate  was  given  to  the  Birkbecks  in  dower  with  a  sinister 
Clifford,  but  withal  in  exchange  for  a  third  part  of  Brampton,"  which  came 
to  them  by  marriage  of  a  coheir,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Lancaster  of 
Brampton.^  We  know  that  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  conveyed  Hornby  to 
Edward  Birkbeck  8  May  6  Edward  VL,^  and  Edward  Birkbeck  and  his 
wife  conveyed  one-third  of  Brampton  to  the  Earl  in  Michaelmas  of  the  same 
year.*  So  Machell  was  correct  as  to  the  exchange  at  all  events.  It  is  at 
least  a  coincidence  that  in  the  "  list  of  the  names  of  all  the  gentlemen  within 
the  Schyer  of  Westmorland,"  a.d.  1526,  the  next  name  after  that  of  Thomas 
Byrkbycke  (the  father  of  Edward)  is  that  of  Thomas  Clifford  the  Bastard.^ 

1  have  met  his  name  several  times  about  this  date. 

Machell  in  another  place  writes  : — 

Ad  Browhani,  Cosan  Birkbecke  of  Hornbye  has  matched  11  as  q'  Birkbccke. 

i"'.  Clifford. — Cheqny  or  d^  az.  a  fess  gu.  over  all  a  Baton  sinister  base 
born. 

2'"'.  Salkeld  de  Rosgill. — Arg.  fretty  gu.  a  chief  of  the  2'"". 

3''''.  Denton  de  Cardevv. — Arg.  2  Barrs  gu.  in  chief  3  Martletts  of  the 
Second. 

4"".  Sandford   (Hovvgill   Castle,   Westm.). — Per  chev.   sa.  <^  erm.  in  chief 

2  Boars^  Heads  couped  or. 

5*"'.  Wharton  de  Kirkbythore. — Sa.  a  maunch  arg. 

1  Machell's  MSS.,  "  History  of  the  Borders,"  vol.  v.,  p.  29  (Library  Dean  and 
Chapter  Carlisle). 

~  Machell's  MSS.,  vol.  v.,  p.  569  (the  property  of  Rev.  Richard  B.  Machell,  Roos 
Rectory,  Yorks). 

8  Inq.  post  mortem  of  Edward  Birkbeck  (grandson  of  above),  9  Charles  I.,  part  ii.,  128. 

*  Notes  of  Fines,  Michaelmas  6  Edward  VL 

'"  Cotton  MSS.,  Calig.  B.,  iii.,  fo.  193. 


THE   BIRKBECKS  OF  WESTMORLAND.  35 

6"'.  Lancaster  de  Sockbridge,  Westni. — Arg.  2  Barrs  gu.  on  a  canton  of 
the  2°''  a  mullet  pierced  or. 

7"'.  Lancaster  de  Brampton,  VVestm. — Or  2  Barrs  gu.  on  a  canton  of  the 
2""^  a  mullet  arg. 

8"'.  Lancaster  de  Brampton,  VVestm.,  ditto  ditto. 

9'".  Labourne,  CO.  Lancastriensi,  whose  armes  are  an  escutshion  armine 
6  owls  (3  :  2  :  i)  arg.  over  all  a  Bend  sa. 

10*''.   Poole,  co.  Derby. — Az.  a  chevron  between  3  crescents  or. 

ii"".  Katricke,  CO.  Ebor. — Arg.  on  a  Fesse  ingrailed  sa.  quatrefoils  or.^ 

Machell  wrote  this  at  Brougham,  in  which  parish  Hornby  was,  and  no 
doubt  his  cousin  was  Thomas  Birkbeck,  who  married  Margaret  Catterick. 
He  apparently  made  an  error  in  the  name  of  the  ninth  marriage.  Edward 
Birkbeck,  born  1567,  married  Bridget  Calvert  of  Cockerham,  co.  Lancaster, 
and  the  arms  of  Calvert  of  Cockerham  are  :  Sable,  on  an  inescutcheon 
ermine,  within  an  orle  of  eight  owls  argent,  three  guttees-de-sang  ;  but  the 
arms  of  Labourne  of  Cunswick,  co.  Lancaster,  are  :  Azure,  six  lions  rampant 
argent,  three,  two,  and  one.  -i  i  'T'.^'^GS 

There  would  thus  appear  to  have  been  six  generations  before  Edward 
Birkbeck,  the  first  possessor  6f  Hornby,  whose  marriages  into  families  of 
position  were  known  in  Machell's  time  (the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century),  but  unluckily  he  does  not  mention  the  Christian  names  of  the 
husbands.  The  four  coats  of  arms  in  stained  glass  removed  from  the 
house  of  Henry  Birkbeck  at  Headlam,  mentioned  at  p.  23,  appear  to 
be  the  first,  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  of  Machell's  ;  the  sixth  match 
probably  represents  the  marriage  of  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Carlisle,  who  was 
the  earliest  we  know  of  in  the  Hornby  pedigree.  The  shields  in  coloured 
glass  both  at  Hornby  and  Headlam  would  seem  to  confirm  the  Clifford 
match  of  Machell,  although  in  neither  case  the  Clifford  arms  has  the  bar 
sinister,  but  perhaps  this  is  a  natural  omission. 

If  Machell's  statement  that  Hornby  was  acquired  in  dower  with  a 
sinister  Clifford  refers  to  the  Clifford  match  with  a  baton  sinister,  it  ought 

1  Machell's  MSS.,  vol.  i.,  p.  444  (Library  Dean  and  Chapter  Carlisle). 

F    2 


:^6  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

surely  to  have  been  number  six,  not  number  one.  Supposing  these 
"  matchings  "  to  be  correct,  there  were  five  previous  marriages  into  families 
of  very  good  position  of  which  we  have  no  other  record. 

The  huge  chimney-piece  in  the  hall  is  flush  with  the  wall,  and  the  arch 
12  feet  across;  the  end  of  the  hall  has  a  wainscotted  oak  dado  3  feet 
high,  beautifully  carved  in  round  arches  and  pilasters  with  foliage  in  the 
spandrels.  There  is  a  very  good  old  oak  cabinet  which  Mr.  Hutchinson 
told  me  his  father  had  purchased  from  a  family  who  had  previously  bought 
it  out  of  Hornby  Hall  ;  it  has  "  G.  B.  1 640,"  carved  on  it.  There  is  only 
one  Birkbeck  in  the  Hornby  pedigree  to  whom  the  initials  and  date  could 
apply — George  (the  eldest  son  of  Henry),  on  whom  as  third  in  tail  his  uncle 
Thomas  in  1608  settled  Hornby  failing  other  heirs,  but  he  did  not 
succeed.  I  think  there  may  be  some  mistake  as  to  the  cabinet  coming 
originally  from  Hornby  ;  there  were  other  families  of  Birkbeck  in  the 
parish  to  whom  it  might  have  belonged. 

A  stone  doorway  with  moulded  ornaments,  leading  from  the  hall  to  the 
parlour  or  small  dining-room,  has  "^>  u  1602  "  cut  on  it,  but  the  doorway 
appears  to  be  of  a  later  period  than  the  rest  of  the  house  ;  no  doubt  the 
initials  were  those  of  Thomas  and  Joan  Birkbeck.  In  the  parlour  the 
carved  oak  mantelpiece  has  three  divisions,  the  arms  in  the  centre.  The 
side  compartments,  Dr.  Taylor  says,  contained  paintings,  but  they  are  so 
nearly  obliterated  that  I  did  not  observe  them  ;  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
engraving,  the  mantelpiece  is  very  fine.  Dr.  Taylor  says  the  oak  carving 
at  Hornby  affords  the  best  example  of  any  remaining  /;;  situ  in  the  county. 
Upstairs,  over  the  hall,  is  the  drawing-room,  wainscotted  nearly  to  the 
ceiling,  which  is  plaster  work  coloured  in  red  and  gold,  and  crossed  by 
moulded  ribs  ;  it  is  slightly  arched,  having  a  large  centre  piece  embossed 
with  vine  leaves  and  bunches  of  grapes,  from  which  probably  once  hung 
a  candelabra.  These  embossed  plaster  ceilings  seem  to  have  been 
characteristic  of   the    reign    of   Elizabeth  ;    Dr.   Taylor    mentions    several 


DOORWAY    AT    HORNBY    HALL. 


PANEL    OF    CEILING    IN    DRAWING-ROOM,    HORNBY    HALL. 


MANTELPIECE    IN     DRAWING-ROOM    AT    HORNBY    HALL. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  37 

stiJl  existing  in  Westmorland  and  Cumberland,  which  all  appear  to  date 
between  1560  and  1590.  Close  under  the  ceiling,  all  round  the  room, 
is  a  border  with  inscriptions  painted  in  Roman  capitals,  partly  illegible, 
which  I  omitted  to  copy,  but  Dr.  Taylor  says  they  are  Latin  mottoes  and 
legends,  and  mentions  one  as  mors  christi  vita  mea.  The  mantelpiece 
is  very  handsome,  and  was  gilded  ;  the  boldly  carved  cornice  reaching  to 
the  ceiling  is  in  three  divisions,  with  the  arms  in  the  centre  panel  ;  it  is 
curiously  like  the  chimney-piece  at  Headlam  (p.  23),  but  finer  in  design. 
Dr.  Taylor  remarks,  "  If  you  picture  the  room  in  its  original  condition, 
you  will  realize  its  gorgeous  aspect — the  shining  panelled  woodwork  lining 
the  walls,  the  inscription  in  bright  letters  running  under  the  cornice,  the 
elaborate  ceiling,  and  last  of  all,  the  bold  and  richly  decorated  mantelpiece 
with  its  shields,  brilliant  with  tinctures  and  metals." 


(     38     ) 


BIRK  BECKS    OF    ORTON. 


The  parish  of  Orton,  which  was  anciently  called  Scar  Overton,  from  its 
situation  under  a  scar  or  brow  of  naked  rocks,  contains  25,000  acres,  of 
which  only  half  are  cultivated,  and  was  formerly  a  far  more  important  place 
than  it  now  is,  having  been  granted  a  charter  for  a  weekly  market  as  early 
as  6  Edward  I.^  At  a  Muster  for  Westmorland  taken  at  Sandforth 
20  February,  1558-9,  at  which  the  total  number  was  271,  there  came  from 
Orton  50  "  Footmen  furnished  with  Jacks  or  stel  cotes  and  stele  cappes, 
Bowes  18,  and  Bills  32."^  On  the  summit  of  the  Scar  there  was  a  beacon, 
which  communicated  with  the  Penrith  and  other  beacons.  A  beautiful 
silver  fibula  and  torque,  which  are  now  in  the  collection  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries,  were  found  at  Orton  Scar  in  1847. 

Orton  appears  to  have  been  the  earliest  home  of  the  Birkbecks,  and 
almost  the  whole  of  the  Birkbeck  Lordship  (within  which  was  the  township 
or  hamlet  of  Birkbeck)  being  in  the  parish,  the  name  probably  had  its  origin 
there. 

The  earliest  reference  to  the  name  I  have  found  was  at  Orton,  as 
recited  in  the  Pleas  of  the  county  of  Westmorland  before  John  de  Vallebus 
and  others  Justices  itinerant  on  the  morrow  of  St.  Lucy  the  Virgin, 
7  Edward  L  (13  December,  1278).  Roger  the  Miller  of  Langton  killed 
William   le  Hirde  of  Overton,  and  immediately  fled  and  was  suspected  ; 

1  "  History  of  Westmorland  "  (Burn  and  Nicholson),  vol.  !.,  p.  486. 
'  "  State  Papers"  (Domestic),  Elizabeth,  1559,  vol.  ii.,  p.  36. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


39 


therefore  let  him  be  put  in  exigency  and  outlawed,  his  goods  2s.  ()d., 
whereof  Richard  de  Creppinges,  then  Sheriff,  shall  answer.  Afterwards 
it  is  witnessed  that  Agnes,  wife  of  the  aforesaid  William,  appealed  in  the 
County  the  aforesaid  Roger,  and  did  not  prosecute  her  appeal  :  therefore 
let  her  be  taken  and  her  pledges  to  prosecute  in  mercy,  to  wit,  Richard  West 
and  Norman  de  Berkebek.  And  the  Vill  of  Overton,  Crosby  Ravensworth, 
Tybay  and  Great  Askby  concealed  the  aforesaid  goods  before  the  Coroner  : 
therefore  in  mercy.' 

In  another  similar  Roll  the  name  is  spelt  Norman  de  Berlebek,  and  in 
the  Fines  and  Amercements  of  the  county  of  Westmorland  the  same  year. 
From  Agnes,  who  was  wife  of  William  le  Hirde  of  Overton,  because  she 
does  not  prosecute  her  appeal — Richard  West  and  Norman  de  Berkeby 
for  pledges  of  the  same — half  a  mark.^ 

At  the  assize  taken  at  Appleby  in  the  octaves  of  St.  Michael, 
20  Edward  I.  (a.d.  1292),  Thomas  de  Hellebek  and  Avice  his  wife  were 
summoned  to  answer  the  Abbot  of  Bellalanda  that  they  should  permit  him 
to  have  a  certain  road  over  their  lands  in  Overton  which  they  ought  to 
have,  and  where  he  says  he  ought  to  have  a  certain  road  over  the  lands 
of  the  said  Thomas  and  Avice  in  Overton,  to  wit,  from  a  certain  place 
called  Byrkebek  to  a  certain  place  called  Coteflat  in  the  same  vill  towards 
the  north,  etc.^  Coatflat  Hall  became  afterwards,  as  we  shall  see,  Birkbeck 
property.  Sir  Thomas  de  Hellebeck  married  Avicia,  daughter  of  Adam  de 
Henecastre,  and  had  with  her,  among  other  property,  lands  in  Overton, 
including  Coteflat.  Bellalanda  was  the  Abbey  of  Byland  in  Yorkshire, 
which  owned  some  land  in  Shap,  the  adjoining  parish  to  Orton. 

The  Manor  of  Orton  was  divided  before  the  time  of  Edward  I. 
(p.   8),  one    moiety,  the   Orton    Manor,   being   held   by   the   Dacres,   and 


^  Assize  Roll,  Westmorland,  7  Edward  I.,  M. — i — 29,  5",  M.  30. 

^  Ibid.,  M.— I— 29,  3,  M.  25. 

3  Assize  Roll,  Westmorland,  20  Edward  I.,  M. — 1—29,  9,  M.  17. 


40  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

the  other  moiety,  the  Raisbeck  Manor,  by  the  Musgraves  ;*  the  Orton 
Manor  was  conveyed  in  the  year  1614  by  Anne,  Countess  of  Arundel, 
to  Edmund  Branthwaite,  Thomas  Birkbeck,  James  Birkbeck,  and  Thomas 
Powley  in  trust  for  themselves  and  the  rest  of  the  tenants  ;-  the  Raisbeck 
Manor  was  also  divided  into  two  portions,  one  of  which  was  conveyed 
by  the  Warcops  in  1592  to  George  Birkbeck,''  Robert  Whitehead,  and 
George  Sharp,  and  the  other  portion  was  also  sold  to  the  tenants  by 
Thomas  Blenkinsop  of  Hellbeck  in  1630.'' 

In  1455  William  Birkbeck  was  Vicar  of  Orton. 

The  very  great  number  of  Birkbecks  living  in  Orton  during  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  renders  it  most  difficult  to  trace  the 
different  families,  the  more  so  owing  to  there  having  been  often  several 
heads  of  families  bearing  the  same  Christian  name  living  at  the  same  time  ; 
for  instance,  five  Thomas  Birkbecks  signed  a  paper  in  1666  relating  to 
an  exchange  of  glebe  lands.  The  Parish  Register  contains  487  Birkbeck 
entries  before  the  year  1750,  although  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  are 
altogether  missing  from  the  Register.  The  counties  of  Westmorland  and 
Cumberland  were  ravaged  by  the  plague  in  1597  and  1623  (although  it 
does  not  seem  to  have  come  so  far  north  in  1665,  when  London  was 
desolated).  In  the  former  year  the  Orton  Register  marks  its  record  by 
the  great  increase  in  the  number  of  burials  ;  there  are  ten  entries  of 
Birkbeck  deaths  ;  of  these  five  are  marked  "E.  C,"  possibly  for  /«  ecc/esiam, 
signifying  burials  inside  the  church.  W^e  do  not  know  as  to  1623,  as  the 
pages  containing  the  entries  for  that  year  are  missing. 

The  Register  commences  a.d.  1596.  The  first  page  of  the  first 
volume  contains  the  following  entry  :   "  The  names  of  the  Sworne  Men  of 

'   "  History  of  Westmorland  and  Cinnberland,"  vol.  i.,  p.  486. 
-  Close  Roll,  12  James  I.,  Part  28,  No.  15. 

•*  George  Birkbeck  had  thirty-two  tenants  on  his  own  estate  within   this  portion  of 
tl\e  manor. 

*  "  History  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland,"  vol.  i.,  p.  489. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  41 

Orto'  Anno  d'ni   1596;"    and    the  second    name  on  the   list   is    Thomas 
Birkbecke.     There  are  fourteen  names  in  all. 

Imprimis  that  thes  be  diligent  and  careful  to  see  and  provide  that  the  people 
be  ...  .  and  behave  the'selves  honestlie  ....  feare  of  God  accordinge  to  the  Holie 
Word  of  God  and  the  good  and  wholesome  iawes  of  this  land.  Secondlie  to 
se  that  the  Churchwardens  be  careful  and  diligent  in  executinge  their  office,  ioyne 
with  thes  in  suppressinge  of  sinne  and  such  as  behave  the'selves  inordinatlie, 
to  reprove  and  rebuke  those  wh.  be  founde  offendors,  and  if  they  will  not  amend 
to  p'sent  the'  to  be  punished.  Thirdlie  to  se  that  the  church  and  churchy*  be 
decentlie  repaired  and  mainteyned,  etc. 

There  were  twelve  sworn  men  of  Orton.  The  list  probably  also 
includes  the  churchwardens  ;  they  seem  to  have  been  a  primitive  Parish 
Council  with  more  extended  powers  than  their  successors.  Some  of  the 
earlier  entries  of  the  Birkbecks  are  in  Old  English  characters,  or  else  capital 
letters,  as  if  they  were  the  principal  people  in  the  parish,  the  owner  of 
Coatflat  and  Orton  Hall  being  generally  described  as  "  Mr." 

My  grateful  thanks  are  due  to  Mrs.  Holme,  the  wife  of  the  Vicar 
of  Orton,  who,  as  I  could  only  devote  one  afternoon  to  the  Registers, 
most  kindly  copied  out  for  me  what  I  had  been  compelled  to  leave 
unfinished — a  long  and  tedious  work. 

The  Church  Chest  contains  a  quantity  of  memoranda  and  copies  of 
deeds  relating  to  the  Birkbecks,  some  of  them,  it  is  suggested,  in  the 
handwriting  of  Dr.  Burns  the  historian,  who  was  forty-nine  years  Vicar  of 
Orton  ;  probably  they  were  notes  for  his  "  History  of  Cumberland  ana 
Westmorland."  One  is  an  account  of  "  the  rental  of  the  tithe  of  corn 
and  hay  in  the  Parish  of  Orton  before  that  tithe  was  purchased  of  King 
James  the  First  in  1612,  as  rated  in  1596 — 1599,"  containing  thirty  entries 
of  Birkbecks  as  tithe-payers.  George  Birkbeck  is  mentioned  five  times. 
This  evidently  refers  to  the  landowners  in  the  parish  having,  in  161 1, 
pufchased  from  the  Crown  the  rectory  and  advowson  of  Orton,  together 
with  the  tithes.^  In  1643,  on  the  death  of  the  Incumbent,  the  Civil  War 
^  Duchy  of  Lancaster  Privy  Seals,  9  James  I. 


42  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

then  raging,  each  party  attempted  to  elect  a  vicar  of  their  own  side.     The 

parishioners  on  the  side  of  the  Parliament  presented  Alexander  Fetherstone- 

haugh,  a  Chaplain  in  the  Parliamentary  Army,  but  the  Royalists,  who  were 

the  largest  landowners,  elected  George    Fothergill,  and    kept    Fetherstone- 

haugh  out  of  the  church.^     They  complain  that — ■ 

Ye  said  ftetherstone  Haugh  came  in  a  forceable  manner,  and  did  break  open 
the  church  door,  to  take  possession  thereof  insomuch  y'  ye  fleoffies  and  ye 
parishon"  were  forced  to  watch  ye  said  church,  and  caused  it  to  be  watched  for 
9  weeks  or  thereabouts,  together  in  ye  churchyard,  lest  ye  said  ffetherstone-haug 
should  after  ye  breaking  of  ye  said  door  maintain  and  keep  his  possession  there,  in 
wh.  did  not  only  occasion  ye  expence  of  ye  fFeoffeies  and  ye  parish  to  ye  sum 
of  one  hundred  pounds,  but  also  did  endanger  ye  loss  of  ye  advowson  of  ye 
s''  vicarage  contrary  to  all  right  and  Equitie  to  ye  loss  and  damage  of  ye  said 
ffeoffies  and  psh.  of  Orton  to  ye  valew  of  five  hundred  pounds. - 

The  presentation  to  the  Royalist  was  signed  among  others  by  nine 
Birkbecks  ;  from  1646  to  1654  there  are  no  entries  in  the  Register;  at 
length  Mr.  Fothergill  the  Royalist  was  established  as  Vicar,  but  he  was 
ejected  in  1662  for  not  complying  with  the  Act  of  Uniformity. 

The  rectorial  tithes  are  vested  in  the  landowners,  and  the  parish  still 
elects  the  vicar  when  a  vacancy  occurs,  happily  a  rare  occurrence  in 
England. 

There  is  a  story  in  the  "  Worthies  of  Westmorland  "  of  one  of  these 
elections  :  After  the  clerical  candidates  had  passed  through  the  usual  ordeal 
nf  preaching  and  praying,  on  one  of  the  electors  in  conclave  assembled 
being  asked  for  which  of  the  candidates  he  voted,  he  replied,  "  T'  furst  'un 
'st  far  t'better  Sunday  Priest,  but  I'se  fer't  clipping  drink  chap." 

The  name  of  George  Whitehead,  the  greatest  apostle  of  Quakerism, 
who  was  born  at  Newbiggin  in  the  parish  of  Orton  about  the  year  1635, 
is  perhaps  more  widely  known  than  that  of  two  bishops  who  were  natives 
of  Orton — Nicholas  Close,  born  in  the  township  of  Birkbeck,   Bishop  of 

'   "  History  of  \\'estniorkind  and  Cumberland,"  vol.  i.,  p.  484. 
-  Paper  in  Orton  Church  Chest. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  43 

Carlisle  and  Lichfield,  the  builder  of  King's  College,  Cambridge,  and 
Thomas  Barlow,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  born  at  Orton  in  1607,  whose  mother 
was  a  Birkbeck.  Of  the  latter  prelate  certainly  Orton  has  no  reason  to 
be  proud.  There  was  some  marriage  of  a  Whitehead  and  a  Birkbeck, 
as  Margaret  Birkbeck's  wiU,  a.d.  1630,  mentions  her  grandchild  Mary 
Whitehead. 

I  have  done  my  best  to  trace  the  ramifications  of  the  Orton  Birkbecks 
from  their  wills  and  law-suits,  but  only  sketches  of  two  families  are  here 
given,  as  Orton,  having  been  a  very  rabbit-warren  of  Birkbecks,  their 
history  is  most  confusing,  and  after  all  of  litde  interest.  The  leading 
families  were  those  of  Coatflat  Hall  and  Orton  Hall.  George  Birkbeck 
bought  Coatflat  in  1587  ;  he  is  called  in  the  admittance  to  the  manor  by 
Henry  Blenkinsop  of  Helbeck  "  George  Birkbeck  Junier  de  Orton  ;"* 
he  also  owned,  if  he  did  not  in  1604  build,  Orton  Hall  ;  he  had  besides 
much  other  property,  including  lands  at  Haughtonfield  and  Lingfield  in  the 
county  of  Durham.  Surtees  says  of  him,  "  perhaps  son  of  Henry  Birkbeck, 
1594,"^  viz.,  of  Hornby  (p.  19).  George  Birkbeck's  widow,  Margaret, 
who  died  in  1630,  certainly  appointed  Edward  Birkbeck  of  Hornby  as 
supervisor  to  her  will,  but  would  probably  have  mentioned  the  relationship 
had  there  been  any.  I  think  he  was  an  Orton  man,  and  probably  the  son 
of  Brian,  who  died  1594,  leaving  a  son  George  and  a  grandson  Brian, 
but  there  were  at  least  three  other  George  Birkbecks  living  at  Orton  at 
the  time.  George  Birkbeck  of  Coatflat  was  buried  3  November,  1624; 
Inq.  post  mortem  21  May,  1625.  His  will  is  mentioned  in  the  papers 
in  the  Church  Chest  as  bearing  date  17  September,  1624,  but  I  did  not 
find  it  at  Carlisle.  There  seems  to  have  been  some  curious  customs 
connected  with  wills  at  Orton,  for  in  1650  Henry  Birkbeck  of  Orton 
complains    that    his    father,    Thomas,    died    in    1631,    and    that    Edward 

1   Paper  in  Orton  Church  Chest. 

^  "  History  of  Durham,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  25. 


44  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

Birkbeck,  being  Clerk  to  the  Church,  had  power  from  the  minister  to  draw 
all  wills  within  the  parish,  and,  having  drawn  the  will  of  complainant's 
father,  appointed  himself  supervisor  of  the  will,  detained  it,  and  kept  it 
in  his  custody  for  eighteen  years,  so  that  complainant  could  never  get  sight 
of  the  will  although  he  was  an  executor.'  The  neighbouring  parish  of 
Ravenstonedale  had  its  own  Court  of  Probate. 

George  Birkbeck  had  three  sons,  Bryan,  Thomas,  and  Edward. 
Bryan,  the  eldest,  having  only  a  daughter,  renounced  his  succession  to 
Coatflat  during  his  father's  hfe  ;  he  died  1637.  The  daughter  Elizabeth 
inherited  Orton  Hall,  and  she,  having  married  Christopher  Petty,  it  became 
Petty  property,  and  is  now  called  Petty  Hall.  The  third  son,  Edward, 
succeeded  to  Coatflat,  and  married  Isabel,  second  daughter  and  coheiress  ot 
Thomas  Wharton.  He  "  conducted  the  souldiers  for  one  half  of  the 
county  of  Westmorland  to  the  Port  of  Newcasde  for  supply  unto  the  King 
of  Denmark,"  a.d.  1627.^  He  died  in  1634,  leaving  two  sons,  George 
and  Thomas  ;  the  former  dying  without  issue  left  Coatflat  to  Thomas. 
He  "disclaimed"  the  arms  at  Dugdale's  Visitation  in  1666,  so  apparendy 
was  supposed  to  be  entitled  to  them.  Chancellor  Ferguson  states  that 
at  the  Carlisle  and  Appleby  Assizes  of  1666  a  large  number  of  the  country 
gendemen  were  disclaimed  because  they  would  not  pay  the  fee  of  27s., 
which  was  the  Herald's  due  for  entering  their  arms.  Chancellor  Ferguson 
quotes  Machell's  "  Account  of  Mr.  Dugdale's  visitation  of  Westmorland 
of  such  as  were  disclaimed  at  Appleby,  same  assize,  1666 — (in/er  alia) 
Thom.  Birkbeck  of  Coatflat  and  T.  B.  of  Orton  :  the  reason  and  suppose 
of  disclaiming  them  was  their  non-appearance  to  pay  their  fees."^  He  was 
Chief  Constable  for  the  East  Ward  of  Westmorland  a.d.  1678,  and  was 


1   Cliancery  Bills  and  Answers,  Charles  I.,  B.  150,  No.  17. 
-  State  Papers,  Charles  I.,  vol.  Ixxii.,  fo.  26. 

^  "Transactions  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland   Antiquarian   Society,"   vol.    ii.j 
p.  23. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  45 

buried  4  June,  1707.  His  only  son,  Edward,  had  no  surviving  issue, 
and  at  his  death,  3  June,  1728,  Coatflat  was  divided  between  his  two  sisters, 
Isabel  marrying  John  Metcalfe,  and  Elizabeth,  married  to  Leonard  Thorn- 
borrow.  Coatflat  Hall,  which  was  situated  a  mile  from  Orton,  was  pulled 
down  in  1793,  but  I  thought  some  of  the  interior  walls  of  the  present 
farmhouse  and  the  barn  were  part  of  the  original  hall. 

Orton  Hall,  which  is  now  called  Petty  Hall,  is  in  the  middle  of 
the  village,  and  very  much  as  it  was  300  years  ago  :  what  is  now  known 
as  Orton  Hall  being  a  modern  house,  the  residence  of  Colonel  Burn,  the 
grandson  of  the  Historian. 

There  is  a  description  of  the  house  in  an  article  on  Manorial  Hal's, 
by  Dr.  Taylor,  in  "Transactions  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland 
Antiquarian  Society,"  vol.  xii.,  p.  19,  from  which  I  am  enabled,  by  the 
courtesy  of  Mr.  Wilson,  the  Secretary,  to  copy  the  wood-cut  of  the  stone 
panel  over  the  door.  The  initials  are  those  of  George  and  Margaret 
Birkbeck. 


One  of  the  mullioned  windows  still  has  the  old  glazing  in  diamond 
lead-work,  also  "  G."  and  "  B."  on  the  corbel  heads.  The  old  oak  door, 
with  its  iron-work,  still   has  its  oak  bar  running  horizontally  in  a  tunnel. 


46  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

One  side  of  the  kitchen  is  taken  up  by  the  great  open  chimney-arch  with  a 
little  square  spy-hole  window.  Dr.  Gibson,  the  present  owner  of  Petty 
Hall,  shewed  me  a  piece  of  oak  panel  taken  from  an  old  pew  in  Orton 
Church,  on  which  is  carved  ^p^'  and  below  *^'r.  ^'  No  doubt  the  former 
ire  the  initials  of  Brian  Birkbeck  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  and  the  latter 
those  of  Christopher  Petty  and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  their  daughter  and 
heiress. 

Thomas  Birkbeck,  with  whom  commences  the  following  Pedigree, 
certified  by  Dugdale  in  his  "Visitation  of  Yorkshire,  a.d.  1666,"  must 
have  been  the  second  son  of  George  and  Margaret.  The  Wharton  ot 
Kirkby  There  Pedigree  in  the  "  Visitation  of  Westmorland  "'  has  Anne, 
eldest  daughter  of  Thomas  Wharton,  married  first  Thomas  Birkbeck  of 
Weston,  CO.  Westmorland,  and  secondly  Miles  Philipson  of  Brough, 
CO.  Westmorland  ;  and  in  the  will  of  Margaret,  the  widow  of  George 
Birkbeck  of  Coatflat,  there  is  a  bequest  to  "  George  Birkbeck,  the  son 
of  my  late  son  Thomas  Birkbeck,  all  my  sheep  at  Brough  which  are  with 
his  fither  Mr.  Myles  Philipson."  The  relationship  "  of  the  family  of 
Morton  Tynmouth  "  must  have  been  very  remote,  if  not  mythical.  The 
Rev.  Edward  Birkbeck  was  a  Puritan  Divine  and  Rector  of  Staveley,  where 
he  married  Anne  Kay  4  July,  1609,  but  she  is  described  as  a  widow  in  the 
Staveley  Register;  he  died  7  January,  1635-6.  The  Staveley  Register 
also  contains  entries  of  the  birth  of  his  children  and  the  death  of  both 
wives.  His  eldest  son,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Birkbeck  (baptized  28  November, 
561 1),  was  also  a  Puritan,  and  Curate  of  Headingley  1634,  Curate  ot 
Sheffield  1635,  Vicar  of  Sheffield  1644,  and  Rector  of  Ackworth  1646 
until  the  Restoration,  when  he  had  to  retire  from  Ackworth  in  favour  of 
the  former  Rector,  who  had  been  displaced  by  the  Puritans  ;  he  died 
S    July,    1674,   buried    at    Sheffield."      His    son    Samuel  was    ordained  at 

1   Dugdale's  "  Visitation  of  Westmorland,  a.d.  1666"  (Jos.  Foster),  p.  142. 
^  Hunter's  "  History  of  Hallamshire  "  (A.  Gatty),  p.  270. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  47 

Norwich,  and  instituted  Rector  of  Barningham  in  Norfolk  1678.  The 
Rev.  Peter  Birkbeck,  the  youngest  son  of  Edward  (baptized  14  February, 
1614-15),  was  Curate  of  Kippax  1638,  Vicar  of  Ledsham  1645,  and 
probably  instituted  to  the  Rectory  of  Casdeford  1662.  The  baptisms  ot 
his  children  appear  in  the  Register  of  Ledsham. 


birkbeck  of  ^Ijtffiiflti  anti  Casitltforti,  ro*  ^ork.* 

Arms. —  Quarterly  :  i  and  4,  Argent,  a  fess  between  two  lions'  heads  erased  in  chief  and  a 
L'oar's  head  in  base  gules,  Birkbeck;  2  and  3,  Argent,  two  lendlets  sable,  in  tin- 
dexter  chief  a  mullet  gules,  Kay.  An  escutcheon  of  pretence  :-  i  and  4,  Argent,  a 
saltire  vert,  a  crescent  for  difference ;   2  and  3  .  .  .  . 


Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Orton=pAnne,  daughter  of 
in  com.  Westmorl.  of  the  I  Thomas  Wharton 
family  of  Morton-Tinmouth  Esq'''  of  Kirkbv 
in  com.  Pal.  Dunelm.  i  Thore. 

I 


Richard=pAi: 
Nelson 
of    Al- 
tofts. 


I 
Robert 
Birk- 
beck. 


I.  Anne,  daugh-= 
ter  &  sole  heire 
of  William  Kay 
of  Woodsome,  a 
3^''  son  of  the 
family  of  Kay  of 
that  place. 


=Edward  Birkbeck  of  =2.    Bar- 
Orton  Batchelour  of     bara, 
Divinity,     Domestic     daughter 
Chaplain     to     John     of  ...  . 
Lord  Darcy,  Fellow 
of  Trinity  Colledg  in 
Cambridge,  &  Rector 
of   Staveley  in  com. 
Derby. 


,  daughter  of 
.  .  .  .  Beck  with  of 
Aghton  in  co. 
Ebor. 


Thomas^^Alice,  daughter  of 


Kay. 


Nelson 
of  Al- 
tofts    ir 
com. 
Ebor. 


Christopher  SaN 
ton  of  Dunningby 
in  CO.  Ebor,  Sur- 
veyor of  the  Maps 
of  England,  and 
heire  to  her 
brothers,  they  dy- 
ing without  issue. 


1 

I.  Cotton=Anne 

=  2.  William 

1 
Thomas  Birk-=f  Sarah, 

1 
Edward 

i 
Peter    Birk-^ 

1 
pMarv, 

Faram  of 

Walesbyof 

beck  of  Shef- 

daugh- 

Birk- 

beck,Rector 

sole 

Doncas- 

Notting- 

field  in   com. 

ter  of 

beck 

of      Castle- 

daugh- 

ter in  co. 

ham. 

Ebor.,  aet.  $^ 

James 

died  s. p. 

ford    in  CO. 

ter  and 

Ebor. 

ann.  13   Aug. 

Cres- 

Ebor.,     set. 

heire. 

1666. 

wick  0 
Sheffie 

f 
d. 

51  ann.    13 
Aug.   1666. 

1     1 

1     1 
Samuell   Birk- 

1    1 
Thomas  died 

1     1     1 
Thomas  Birkbeck 

1 
Mary 

Ill                   1 
Barbara.         Elizabeth 

beck,   aet.      16 

an  infant. 

18  Ann.   13   Aug. 

= 

—              d.  an 

ann.    13  Aug. 



ann.  1666. 

V/m 

Jane.               infant. 

1666. 

Peter    d.     ar 



Smith- 





infant. 

Edward  Birkbeck. 

son  of 

Sarah. 

Sarah   Birk- 



Meth- 

Died  young. 

beck. 

John  d.  an  infant. 

ley. 

1    From  Dugdale's  Visitation  of  Yorkshire,  a.d.  1666,  fo.  312. 

~  This  escutcheon  is  here  inserted  as  belonging  to  Peter  Birkbeck  of  Castleford. 


48  THE   BIRKBECKS   OK    WESTMORLAND. 

I  have  traced,  as  far  as  I  can,  the  numerous  other  families  at  Orton, 
but  to  tell  their  history  would  take  too  much  space  here.  Many  younger 
sons  migrated  to  London  and  other  places. 

At  one  time  or  another  there  were  Birkbecks  established  in  almost 
every  parish  in  the  north  and  east  of  Westmorland,  and  in  many 
parishes  In  the  south  of  Cumberland  and  the  north  of  Yorkshire  ;  indeed 
they  were  scattered  over  a  large  part  of  the  latter  county  at  an  early  date. 
I  have  also  found  the  name  in  various  parts  of  England,  many  instances 
being  Rectors  or  Vicars,  but  in  other  cases  there  was  not  this  reason  for 
their  having  migrated  so  far  from  the  ancestral  home.  London  naturally 
attracted  many.  I  have  met  with  a  few  instances  on  the  Continent  and 
in  ships  of  war,  but  only  once  in  Ireland,  viz.,  the  grant  by  Henry  VIIL  to 
George  Byrckbecke,  merchant,  of  the  Monastery  of  Dundalk,  the  Rectories 
of  Maudelens,  Dundalk,  and  Hagarde,  co.  Louth,  with  lands  in  Dundalk, 
the  Raith,  and  Drumysken.' 

We  meet  with  a  great  number  of  Westmorland  family  names  scattered 
over  England  whose  ancestors  had  probably  left  their  unproductive  native 
county  in  search  of  their  fortunes,  Westmorland  and  Cumberland  having 
been  the  poorest  of  the  English  counties.  In  the  assessment  for  ship-money, 
A.D.  1636,  Westmorland  was  only  assessed  at  ;(,6oo,  the  lowest  of  any  county 
— even  Cornwall  was  ;^5500 — and  at  the  assessment  in  1649  Westmorland 
was  only  put  at  CSAli  o^*^  o^  ^  *^°tal  of  ^400,000  for  the  whole  of  England.* 

The  following  list  of  places  where  Birkbecks  were  settled,  although 

by  no  means  a  complete  one,  will  give  some  idea  how  widely  they  were 

scattered  : — 

CAMBRIDGE. 
Wisbech. 

CORNWALL. 

Plymouth. 

1   "  Public  Records  in  Ireland,"  Report  VII.,  Appendix,  p.  86,  No.  534. 

~  "  History  of  Agriculture  and  Prices  in  England  "  (J.  E.  T.  Rogers),  vol.  v.,  p.  105. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 


49 


CUMBERLAND. 


Carlisle. 

Great  Salkeld. 

Edenhall. 

Skelton. 

Kirkiaiid. 

Whitehaven. 

KirkoswakJ. 

Wigton. 

Langwathby. 

Workington. 

Penrith. 

DERBY. 

Cliesteiilekl. 

i 
DURHAM. 

Staveley. 

Great  Chilton. 

Haughton-le- Field. 

Darlington. 

Headlam. 

Gainford. 

ESSEX. 

VVanstead. 

HUNTINGDON. 

Huntingdon. 

KENT. 

Goodneston. 

Maidstone. 

Gravesend. 

Rochester. 

Horton  Kirby. 

Stockbury. 

LANCASHIRE 

Orniskirk. 

LINCOLN. 

Frythorpe. 

1 
LONDON. 

Lincoln. 

Barnard's  Tnn. 

St.  Clement  Danes. 

City  of  London. 

St.  Giles-in-the-Fields. 

Christchnrch,  Nc 

wgate. 

St.  James,  Clerkenwell 

Kinsbury. 

St.  Martin-in-the-Fieid 

Gray's  Inn. 

St.  Mary-at-Hill. 

Great  St.  Helen's. 

St.  Nicholas  Aeon. 

Mincing  Lane. 

Soiithwark. 

Old  Jewry. 

Staple's  Inn. 

St.  Andrew's,  H 

ilborn. 

Westminster. 

St.  Bartholomew 

the  Great. 

Wild  Street. 

H 

50  THE    BIRKBFXKS    O!'    WESTMORLAND. 

MIDDLESEX. 


Edmonton 
Hounslow 


Uxbridi 


NORFOLK. 

Great  Riburgh.  |  West  DiTL-hani 

NORTHUMBERLAND. 

Morjiftli. 


sford. 


NOTTINGF^AM. 

I  Newark. 


Akiborough. 
Ipbwich. 


SOMERSET. 

Bristol. 

SUFFOLK. 


SUSSEX. 
Lewes. 


Ajiplel))',  St.  Lawrenec 

Appleby,  St.  Mlebael. 

Asby. 

Askhani. 

Bampton. 

Barton. 

Brough. 

Brougham. 

Clifton. 

Crosby  Ravensworth. 

Dufton. 

Kendal. 

Kirkbv  Lonsdale. 


WES'IMORLAND. 

Kirkbv  Siephei:. 
j  Kirkbv  Thore. 

i  Long  Marton. 

Low"tlHT. 

Morland. 

Great  Musgrave. 

Newbiggin. 

Orton. 

Ravcnstoncdale. 

Shap. 

Temjile  Sowerh\-, 

Windermere. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


YORKSHIRE. 

Ackworth. 

Leeds. 

Aldbomugli. 

i 

iMiddlcton  T 

Askrigg. 

• 

Milker. 

Aysgarth. 

Normanton. 

Bradford. 

Osgardby. 

Castleford. 

Pontefract. 

Denton. 

Ripley. 

Enibsay. 

Ripon. 

Featham. 

Ronaldskirk 

Forcet. 

Sedbergh. 

Garsdale. 

Settle. 

Grinton. 

Sheffield. 

Halifax. 

Skclton. 

Helparty. 

Skipton. 

Horton. 

Stainmore. 

Hull. 

Stan  wick. 

Ingleton. 

York. 

Knaresborough. 

IRELAND. 

Dundalk. 

Antwerp,  Ghent,  Marseilles,  Nice,  Rome,  Brooklyn  (U.S.A.),  Mexico. 

The  following  lists  of  Clergy,  etc.,  are  also   not  as  complete  as  they 
might   he,   only   comprising    the   names   I   have    met  with,   as    I    have    not 
made  any  systematic  search  for  the  purpose  : — 
CLERGY. 

.\.D. 

Adam    Birkkeck.  Rect<jr  of  Croconibe,  Somerset. 

Ch.j^ri.fs  Birkbhck  (son     Vicar  of  St.  Nicholas,  Rochester. 

of  Charles,  of  London).      Vicar  of  Stockbury,  Kent. 
Canon  of  Rochester. 
CuTHBERT  BiRKBECK.  St.    .John    the  Apostle, 

Ousebrighead,  York. 
CuTHBERTBiRKBECK(son     Rector  of  Loveston,  Pembroke. 

of  Edward,  of  Hornbv).      Vicar  of  Lamphev,  Pembroke. 
Edward   Birkbkck  (son     Rector  of  Staveley,  Derby. 

of  Thomas,  of  Orton). 


Instituted     1520. 

„  1721. 

1722. 

Will         1530. 

Instituted    i.-^yo. 

Before  1609. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OK    WESTMORLAND. 


Edward    Birkbeck  (son  Rector  of  Klvington,  Yorks.                 Instituted 

of  Edward,  of Sedbergh). 

Hugh   Birkiikck.  Uflord,  SuHolk. 

James   Birkbeck.  Chaplain  ((|uerv  of  Applci-v,  West- 
morland). 

JeffravBirkbkck  (sonof  Rector  of  Great  MuSi^rave,  West-      Instituted 

Ilenry.ofEamont  Bridge).  niorland. 

.loHN  (BiiRHAcn).  Prebend  of  Lincoln. 

John  (Buri'.ach).  Vice-Chaneeilor    of    Oxford    Uni- 


JoHN    Birkbeck. 
John    [jIkkbeck. 


Paul   Bikki 


I'eT1-,R     BlRKIiECK     (son    of 

Eduard,  of  Stavelcv). 
RieHAi^D   Bikki'.eck. 
Richard   Birkbeck. 


Vicar  of  (ireat  C'anlicld,  Essex. 

Rector  of  (ireat   Mnsgravc,  West-  Ob. 

niorland 
Vicar  of  Aldburgli,  SuHolk.  Institn 

Rector  of  Broniswcll,  SuD'olk. 
Rector  of  Ufford,  SuHolk. 
Vicar  of  [.edsbain,  V.irks. 
Rector  of  Castleford,  \orks. 
X'icar  of  llenstridge,  Somerset. 
Rector  of  Baverstock,  Wilts. 
Robert  (de    Buriiach).       X'icar  of  Langford,  Notts,  and  I're- 
bendof  Eincoln.      Exchanged  for 
Chapels  of  Bokensfield  and  New- 
stead  ill  Diocese  of  Canterbiirv. 
Samuel    Birkbeck    (son     Rector  of  Barningham,  Norfolk.  Institul 

ofThomas,  of  Sheffield). 
Simon  Birkbeck  (son  of     \'icar  of  Gilling  and  Korcet,  Yorks.  „ 

Thomas,  of  Hornby). 
Thomas    Birkbeck   (son     Vicar  of  Sheffield,  Yorks.  ,, 

of  Edward,  of  Sheffield).      Rector  of  Ackworth,  Yorks. 
Wii.i.iAM    Birkbeck.  Vicar  of  Orton,  Westmorland. 

PRIESTS. 
K!d\vard   Birkbeck  (son  of  Thomas,  of  Hornby),  ordained  at  St.  Omer 
Gervase   BlRKIiECK  (sou  of  Thoiiias,  of  Hornbv),  ordainetl  at  Rome 
Henry  Birkbeck,  ordained  at  Valladolitl         ..... 

John  Birkebeke,  Monk  ami  Canon  at  Carlisle       .... 

John   Birkbeck,  his  will  at  Rome .  ...... 

Mr.  |]irkbeck,  Priest  at  York  (probably  identical  uitb  the  next) 
William    Birkbeck,  oniaincd  at  Douai 


'.519- 
15^9- 


^395- 
1435- 

T545- 

1577- 

1590. 
1595- 
'599- 
i'543- 
1662. 

^579- 
1604. 

1351- 


1678. 

1617. 

1644. 
164,^. 
1453- 

1 70S. 
1710. 
1610. 
1538. 
1 58  8. 

158.5- 
1581. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  S3 

John  Birkebelce,  the  Monk  at  Carlisle,  was  granted  an  annuity  of 
£6  13s.  4d.  per  annum  b)-  Henry  MIL  a.d.  1539-40,  after  the  dissolution 
of  the  Monastery  of  Carlisle,  where  he  had  long  been  Canon. ^  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  shameful  accusations  were  false  which  were  brought 
against  him  and  other  monks  at  Carlisle  in  the  Monastic  Comperta,''^ 
supposed  to  be  fragments  of  the  discoveries  made  by  Cromwell's  Visitors 
in  1536,  whose  reports  were  the  grounds  for  the  abolition  of  the  monasteries 
by  Henry  VIII.  It  is  alleged  that  they  manufactured  charges  to  justify 
Cromwell  and  his  master  in  their  intended  plunder  of  the  monasteries. 

I  cannot  be  certain  who  Henry  and  William  in  the  above  list  were. 
The  late  Mr.  Joseph  Gillow  of  Woodland,  Bowdon,  Cheshire,  informed  me 
that  the  MS.  Diary  of  the  English  College  of  St.  Albans  at  Valladolid,  in  his 
possession,  records  that  Henry  Birbeck  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  was 
admitted  into  the  College  16  November,  1609,  took  the  missionary  oaths 
22  June,  1610,  and  died  in  the  College  in  September,  161 1.  The  Douay 
Diaries^  have  the  following  entries  relative  to  William  Birkbeck  : — 

An.  1.58 1,  Ofdiuati  sunt  (iiiler  alia)  Guiiichmis  Birckbeckus,  Dunelnien  (p.  ro). 

An.  15S3,  ill  Angii.un  niissi— Guilichnus  Birkbcchus  (p.  29). 

An.  15S1,  5  Aug.,  tx  Anglia  venit  D.  Birbecke,  Cantabrigiensis  (p.  t8o). 
("  D."  signitic'd  Deacon,  sec  note  ]i.  184,  op.  cit.) 

An.  1581,  21  Sep.,  D.  Birkbeeke,  qui  subdiaeoni  taeti  sunt  (p.  iSj). 

An.  1581,  21  Dec.,  Ordinati  profccti  sunt  undecini  e.x  nostris  redieruntque 
ad  pi-esbyteratum  promoti  octo  videlicet— D.  Birkbeche  (and  7  otliers)    (p.  184). 

An.  158 1,  Jan.  8,  primitias  ceJebrarunt  .  .  .  .  D.  Birkbeeke  (p.  184). 

An.  1583,  Ap.  31,  deeesserunt  D.  Guij.  Birkbeeke  (p.  195). 

Au.  1590,  Oct.  7,  hoc  fere  tempore  accessimus  variis  ex  loeis  in  Anglian) 
pmfectos  esse  D.  Guilielmum  Birket  sacerdotes,  qui  et  antea  Anglic  sacranienta 
adniinistrarunt  (in  Index  it  is  Birkbeck,  not  Birket)    (p.  236). 

An.  1583,  A  p.  21,  eatalogus  quoriuidani  Sacerdotuni  tjui  a  Collegio  Duaceno 
seu  Rheniensi  in  Angliam  missi  sunt — -D.  Guil.  Birkbeck   (p.  262). 

1  Augmentation,  Misc.  Books,  vol.  ccxxxiv.,  fo.  374''. 
^  Cott.  MSS.,  Cleopatra,  E.  iv.,  p.  147. 

*  Records  of  the  English  Catholics  (Diaries  of  the  English  College,  Douay),  vol.  i. 
(British  Museum,  2214''). 


54  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMOliLAND. 

Mr.  Gillow  possessed  a  copy  of  the  very  scarce  1598  edition  of  the 
"Thesaurus  Litaniarum  "  by  E.  Thonuis  Saiilius,  S.  J.,  with  the  autographs 
of  "  Henricus  Byrkbeck "  ami  "  Gul.  Byrbeck,  Sacerdotis  Aiigh,"  also 
"  Henricus  Birkbetius  ab  Edwardo  Birkbetio  ;"  he  is  convinced  that  these 
were  both  Hornby  Birkbecks.  If  so,  Henry  may  have  been  the  second 
Harri  of  the  pedigree  certified  by  Dwnn  (p.  20),  and  I  have  found  no  other 
reference  to  him  ;  possibly  he  v/as  the  Henry  Birkbeck  ordained  at 
Valladolid.  Harri  being  the  son  of  Edward,  the  Vi'ords  "  Henricus 
Birkbetius  ab  Edv/ardo  Birkbetio  "  are  certainly  strong  presumptive  evidence. 
Henry  v/as  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  in  which  of  course  Hornby  was,  but 
William  was  "  Dunelmen,"  from  Durham  (he  is  also  described  as  "  Canta- 
brigiensis  ").  Although  William  is  a  common  name  in  some  of  the  other 
Birkbeck  families,  it  is  markedly  absent  in  the  Hornby  pedigree.  William 
was  a  more  characteristic  name  among  the  Mallerstang  Birkbecks  than  in  any 
of  the  other  families,  but  in  the  seventeenth  century  the  latter  vvere  certainly 
Protestants.  Whoever  he  may  have  been,  William,  ordameci  Priest  at 
Douay  in  1581,  was  on  the  mission  at  York  in  1585  (no  doubt  the 
"  Mr.  Birkbeck,  the  ghostly  father,  a  godly  man,"'  in  the  list  of  [iriests), 
apprehended  there  for  being  a  priest,  committed  to  the  castle  at  Hull  in 
August  of  that  year,  and  exiled  ;"'  but  in  1590  risked  his  life  by  returning 
on  the  English  mission.  He  was  certainly  living  after  1598,  his  signature 
being  in  a  book  printed  in  that  year  ;  indeed,  from  the  two  signatures  it 
looks  as  though  he  were  living  in  1610,  Henry  not  having  been  "sacerdos" 
till  that  year.  On  a  fly-leaf  of  the  "  Thesaurus"  is  the  sentence,  "Inimici 
hominis  domestic!  ejus,"  apparentl)-  in  the  same  handwriting  as  that  of 
Henricus  Byrkbeck,  which,  if  the  writer  were  one  of  the  Hornby  Birkbecks, 
may  be  an  allusion  to   the   religious  differences  in  the  fiimily,   his   brother 

1   "  Rucrds  of  the  !•  nglish  I'nivinct',"  Soc-it-ty  of  Jesus  (H.  Foley),  vol.  iii.,  p.  253. 
-  Rill.,  vol.  vii.,  part  i.,  p.  igS  ct  scq. ;  and  "  Troubles  of  our  Catholic  ForeftUhers  " 
(Morris),  Third  Series,  p.  272. 


THF.    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


55 


Cuthbert  having  been  a  clergyman  in  the  Reformed  Church,  and  his  nephew 
Simon  a  strong  Protestant  Divine. 

The  following  were  graduates  at  the  Universities  : — 

OXFORD. 

A.D. 

University.  John  BurbacHj  Professor  of  Sacred 

'I'heology  ;     Vice-Chancellor     of 

University.  1435,  1436 

Balliol  College.                       Chaklks  Birkheck.  B.A.  1710 

Oueea's  College.                    Adam    Birkbeck  (Fellow).  M.A.  150S 

„                                  Anihony  Birkebecke  (Fellow).  „      1518 

„  HUMFREV    BVRKBECKK.  1 583 

„  SVMOND    BlRKBECK.  M.A.    1607 

John   Birkbeck.  B.A.  1534 

CAMBRIDGE. 

Caius  &  Gouville  College.  Geoffrkv  Birkbecke. 

Pembroke  College.  Paul   Birkiseck. 

Sidney  College.  Samuel    Birbkche. 

St.  John's  College.  William   Birkbeck  (Fellow) 

„  Edward  Birkbeck  (Fellow). 

ADMISSIONS  TO  GRAY'S  INN. 

Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Barnard's  Inn          ...  —  157a 

William  Birkbeck  of  Staple's  Inn          ...  8  Mav  1577 

Richard   Birkbecke  of  Kuaresborough,  eo.  York      .  ::g  October  1605 
•Richard  Birkbeck,  son  of  Richard,  late  of  Morton 

Tynniouth,  co.  Durham,  Esq.      .  .  .  -15  March  1^538-9 

Thomas  Birkbeck,  son  and  heir  of  Georgi:,  oFOrton, 

CO.  Westmorland,  Gentleman       ....  20  February  1654-3 

In  the  sixteenth  century  there  were  several  famiHes  of  Birkbecks  in  the 
parish  of  Penrith,  one  or  two  of  which  were  in  a  good  position.  The 
Christian  names  in  one  of  these  families  residing  at  Eamont  Bridge,  which  is 
two  miles  from  Hornby,  but  on  the  Penrith  or  Cumberland  side  of  the 
river,  are  so  curiously  the  same  as  those  of  the  Mallerstang  Birkbecks  that 
I  annex  a  short  account  of  them  for  two  or  three  generations.      It  will  he 


B.A. 

J579 

M.A. 

1591 

;, 

167S 

„ 

i66y 

„ 

1739 

56  THE    BIRKBECKS   OK    WESTMOREAND. 

seen  that  most  of  the  names  in  the  Eamont  Bridge  family — John,  Henry, 
Jeffrey,  William,  and  Roger  (Shellet,  who  had  some  connection  with  Henry), 
Margaret,  Isabel,  Frances,  and  Agnes — are  also  in  the  Mallerstang  pedigree 
within  the  same  half  century,  leaving  only  four  names  in  the  former  family 
unrepresented  at  Mallerstang  ;  and  in  other  Penrith  families  apparently 
connected  with  the  one  at  Eamont  Bridge  appear  Richard,  James,  Helen, 
and  Elizabeth,  also  Mallerstang  names.  Some  of  the  names  are  constant  in 
both  families  for  generations,  and  Roger  at  Mallerstang  is  the  only  instance 
of  the  name  I  have  met  with  among  the  Birkbecks.  The  Rev.  Jeffrey 
Birkbeck  owned  some  property  at  Caber,'  which,  as  well  as  Mallerstang,  is 
in  the  parish  of  Kirkby  Stephen,  and  his  son  John  also  owned  land  in 
South  Stainmoor,^  also  near  Mallerstang.  With  the  marked  similarity  of 
the  names  it  certainly  looks  as  it  there  had  been  some  connection  between 
the  families,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  trace  it. 

HENRY  BIRKBECK  of  Eamont  Bridge,  Penrith,  was  assignee  of 
Roger  Shellet,  who  had  a  grant  of  the  avoidaiice  of  Great  Musgrave  Rectory, 
A.D.  1558,  from  Bishop  Oglethorpe.^  He  died,  apparently  at  Penrith, 
18  May,  1577,''  and  was  buried  at  Great  Musgrave  20  Ma)',  15^7.  His 
effects  were  administei-etl  by  William  Birkbeck  of  Ciray's  Inn.'^  William 
Birkbeck  was  admitted  to  Gray's  Inn  8  May,  1577.  I  cannot  say  that 
he  was  a  relation  ot  Heniy's,  but  the  tact  ot  his  administrating  the 
effects  of  the  latter  and  presenting  Jeffrey  to  the  living  looks  like  it  ; 
his  possible  connection  with  the  Mallerstang  Birkbecks  is  mentioned  later. 
Heiu-y  Birkbcck's  widow  Elioner  was  buried  at  Penrith  iS  March,  1586-7, 
and  her  will,  dated  10  March,  was  proved  20  April,  1587.  His  brother, 
the  Rev.  John  Birkbeck,  was  Rector  ot  Great  Musgrave,  Westmorland, 
and  buried  there  19  October,  1577. 

1  Feet  of  Fines,  Westmorland,  Hilary  ,59  Elizabeth. 
-  Survey  of  the  Barony  of  Appleby,  Appleby  Castle. 
■5  "  History  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland,"  vol.  i.,  p.  589.          ^   Penrith  Register. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  57 

Henry  Birkbeck  had  issue  two  sons  and  five  daughters,  all  mentioned 
in  the  will  of  his  widow  : — 

JOHN,  inherited  under  his  mother's  will  all  her  lands  and  leases  to 
his  heirs  for  ever.     He  had  two  sons,  John  and  William. 

JEFFERAYE,  vide  infra. 

ISABELL,  married  8  January,  1570-71,  James  Thomson,  who  was 
also  mentioned  in  the  will  of  his  mother-in-law. 

MABEL,  possibly  baptized  at  Penrith  25  October,  1558;  but  there 
was  another  Mabel,  the  daughter  of  Henry  Birkbeck  of  Bishopsgate, 
Penrith  (and  mentioned  in  his  will),  who  married  Sir  Christopher  Symson, 
Vicar  of  Bampton,  14  June,  1578,  and  the  entry  in  the  Register  may  refer 
to  her.  Sir  Christopher  may  have  been  a  son  of  Christopher  Symson,  who 
married  Elizabeth  Birkbeck  of  the  Hornby  family  in  the  first  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century  (p.  1 5). 

The  prefix  "  Sir  "  was  generally  applied  to  clergymen  who  had  not  taken 
a  university  degree. 

GRACE,  baptized  at  Penrith  27  August,  1561. 

FRANCES,  baptized  at  Penrith  28  March,  1563,  and  married  at 
Penrith  25  June,  1581,  to  William  Rogerson. 

MARGARET. 

The  REV.  JEFFREY  BIRKBECK  (son  of  Henry,  vide  supra)  was 
presented  to  the  Rectory  of  Great  Musgrave  by  William  Birkbeck  of  Gray's 
Inn,  as  assignee  of  Henry  Birkbeck,  on  the  death  of  the  former  Rector,  his 
uncle  John,  in  1577.  He  was  admitted  to  Caius  and  Gonville  College, 
Cambridge,  a^t.  20,  5  October,    1575,  and  ordained  at  Ely,   Deacon   1577, 

and  Priest   1578-9.     He  married,  i    July,    1584,  Margaret I  have 

the  entry  of  his  burial  at  St.  Helen's,  York,  2  August,  1597.  His  will  is 
dated  16  July,  1599,  and  proved  at  York  10  January,  1600.  Either  the 
date  of  the  will  or  of  the  burial  is  wrongly  copied  ;  in  both  cases  he  is 
described  as  of  Great  Musgrave,  Cleric. 


58  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

Jeffi-ey  Birkbeck  had  issue  : — 

Henry,  heir  by  his  father's  will.  Agnes. 

Thomas,     baptized     at     Great  Isabell,  bapt.   13  August,  1587. 

Musgrave     6    April,     1589;  Bridgett. 

not  mentioned  in  will.  Frances. 

The  will  also  mentions  separately  a  son  Anthony,  who  was  probably 
illegitimate,  as  the  will  of  Anthony  Birkbeck  alias  Dixon  of  Musgrave, 
dated  26  September,  1597,  and  proved  5  March,  1598,  gives  to  Bridget  and 
Frances  Birkbeck  ;^20,  bequeathed  to  him  by  JefFray  Birkbeck. 

In  1598  the  plague  carried  ofF  312  of  the  inhabitants  of  Penrith 
Parish  during  July,  August,  and  September,  the  entries  of  their  burial 
in  the  Register  being  marked  P  ;  six  of  the  entries  so  distinguished  are 
those  of  Birkbecks. 


(     59     ) 


MALLERSTANG. 


The  Settle  Birkbecks  are  descended,  as  we  shall  see,  from  an  ancestor  who 
migrated  to  Settle  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  from  Deepgill  in 
Mallerstang.  The  latter  is  a  valley  about  six  miles  in  length,  in  the  parish 
of  Kirkby  Stephen,  and  a  few  miles  to  the  southward  of  that  town.  The 
river  Eden  rises  just  over  the  borders  of  Yorkshire  on  the  south,  and  flows 
through  the  valley.  The  precipitous  cliffs  of  Wild  Boar  Fell,  2323  feet 
above  the  sea,  form  the  western  boundary  of  the  valley,  and  on  the  eastern 
side  are  the  Yorkshire  hills  at  the  head  of  Swaledale.  According  to  the 
Ordnance  Map,  Mallerstang  contains  6355  acres  of  moor  and  1965  acres  of 
enclosed  land  ;  the  latter  is  exclusively  grass,  the  valley  lying  too  high  for 
corn,  the  lowest  part  being  over  700  feet  above  the  sea.  In  old  times  it 
was  a  forest  or  chase,  and  has  never  been  disforested,  although  the  deer, 
which  formerly  were  numerous,  appear  to  have  become  extinct  about 
150  years  ago.  There  are  still  a  considerable  number  of  red  deer  in 
Martindale  Forest,  near  UUswater,  which,  with  those  on  Exmoor,  are,  I 
believe,  the  only  red  deer  still  existing  in  a  perfectly  wild  state  in  England. 
At  the  petty  sessions  held  at  Appleby,  Michaelmas,  1666,  Thomas  Knewstub, 
Ralph  and  Henry  Shaw,  Thomas  Whitfield,  Adam  Fothergill,  Robert  Grey> 
Richard  Heseltine,  and  Henry  Dixon  were  convicted  of  killing  a  deer 
within  the  forest  of  Mallerstang  belonging  to  Anne,  Countess  Dowager  of 
Pembroke,  and  each  of  them  fined  £20  according  to  the  statute* — ;£i6o  in 

1  Hill's  MSS.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  405. 


So  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

all,  and  equivalent  to  over  ^^looo  at  the  present  time,  for  one  deer  !  Some 
proprietors  of  Scotch  deer  forests  might  envy  the  English  game  laws  of 
those  days. 

The  inhabitants  were  sturdy  "  Statesmen,"  as  the  Westmorland  yeomen 
landowners  were  called,  and  they  shewed  themselves  well  able  to  hold  their 
own  in  long  contests  with  their  lords  of  the  manor.  Anne,  Countess  of 
Pembroke,  found  them  very  stifFnecked,  and  certainly  was  not  over-scrupulous 
in  her  dealings  with  one  of  them.  Captain  Robert  Atkinson  became  her 
tenant  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  as  owner  of  Blue  Grass  in 
Mallerstang,  which,  as  will  be  seen  later  (p.  79),  he  purchased  in  1648  from 
Henry  Birkbeck,  a  Royalist.  He  had  been  commander  of  the  Common- 
wealth garrison  in  Appleby  Castle,  and  forced  the  townsmen  to  elect  a 
Roundhead  Mayor,  "  coming  down  from  the  castle  with  his  musketeers, 
and  clapped  his  hand  on  his  sword,  saying,  '  I'll  do  it  by  this.'  "' 

In  1663  the  former  partisans  of  the  Commonwealth,  who  were  numerous 

in   the   neighbourhood,   attempted   to   stir    up  against   the    Restoration    an 

insurrection,  which  was   known  as  the  Kaber  Rigg  Plot.     Kaber  is  three 

miles   on   the  other  side  of   Kirkby    Stephen  from  Mallerstang.      Captain 

Atkinson  appears  to  have  been  the  leader  of  the  rising.     The  State  Papers 

contain  the  examinations  and  confessions  of  the  conspirators,  who  hoped  to 

secure  Appleby  Castle  as  well  as  Hull,  and  believed  they  had  a  party  in  the 

garrison  who  would   deliver  up  Carlisle  ;  but  the  chief  rising  was  to  have 

been  in  London.     They  were  taken   in   arms   on   12  October,   1663,   and 

Atkinson    sent    to    the    Tower.       The    following    year    he    was    removed 

to  Appleby  Castle  to  be  tried.     The  Countess  of  Pembroke's  diary  has  the 

following  entry,  a.d.  1664:  — 

And  y=  20"'  day  of  y'  August  being  Saturday,  in  y'^  morning  did  y=  2  Judges 
of  Assize  for  y-^  Northern  Circuite,  S''  Tho.  Twisden  and  S"'  Christopher  l\irner, 
eume  hither  from  Carlisle  &  Newcastle  &  those  parts  to  keep  y°  assizes  here  at 

'  "  History  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland,"  vol.  i.,  p.  3i,S- 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  6i 

Appleby  for  y^  said  County  as  usually,  ^  they  lay  here  in  y'  Appleby  Cas  for  3  nights 
together.  Judge  Twisden  in  y^  Barons  Chamber,  (^  Judge  Turner  in  y<=  best  room 
in  Caesars  Tower,  in  which  time  they  kept  y"  assizes  in  y'^  moot  hall  in  Appleby 
Town,  where  Rob'  Atkinson,  one  of  my  Tenants  in  Mallerstang,  <^  y'  had 
been  my  great  enemy,  was  condemned  to  be  hanged,  drawn,  &  quartered,  as  a 
Traitor  to  y**  King  for  having  had  a  hand  in  y"  late  plott  &'  conspiracy,  so  he  was 
executed  accordingly  y  i"  day  of  y"  month  following.^ 

So  Atkinson  was  executed  on  i  September,  but  we  have  "  the  warrant 
to  Sir  Thomas  Davidson,  High  Sheriff  of  Durham,  to  respite  Robert 
Atkinson,  condemned  to  death  for  high  treason,"  dated  31  August,  1664.^ 
Of  course  it  would  be  too  late  to  reach  Westmorland  the  next  day.  The 
Countess  was  said  to  have  set  her  mind  on  his  death,  and  as  High  Sheriff  to 
have  hurried  the  execution,  so  that  any  respite  or  pardon  might  not  interfere 
with  the  sentence.  There  is  still  a  tradition  in  Mallerstang  that  shortly  after 
the  execution  a  King's  officer  arrived  at  Stainmore  on  his  way  from  the 
south,  and  on  being  informed  that  Captain  Atkinson  had  been  executed, 
said,  "  Why,  I  have  his  reprieve  in  my  pocket." 

Blue  Grass  is  the  property  of  Miss  Atkinson,  a  direct  descendant 
of  Captain  Atkinson,  and  has  been  In  the  possession  of  the  family  ever 
since  his  death.  The  original  house  has  been  pulled  down,  and  a  new  one 
erected  on  the  site,  but  the  barn  looks  as  If  It  might  have  been  built  by  my 
ancestor  In  the  sixteenth  century. 

In  an  account  of  the  rising.   Sir  Daniel  Fleming  of  Rydal,  who  was  a 

bitter  persecutor  of  the  Quakers,   writes   to   Williamson,  the  Secretary  of 

State,  that  he  had  raised  the  train  bands  and  kept  strict  duty  three  days  till 

the  design  was  quashed,  and  secured  twenty  who   had  been  officers  of  the 

King,   ejected  ministers,  or  leading  Quakers,  etc.      If  mischief  arises  now,  it 

will  be  from  non-licensed  ministers  or  from  Quakers,  of  whom  there  are  too 

many  In  this  part  of  the  county  joining  to  Lancashire,  where  George  Fox 

and  most  of  his  cubs  have  long  been  kenneled.    They  keep  weekly  meetings 

1  British  Museum  copy,  p.  171   (Harleian  MSS.  6177). 
-  State  Papers  (Domestic),  Charles  II.,  vol.  ci. 


62  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

within  eight  miles  of  each  other  through  all  this  county,  if  not  through 
England.  They  will  do  mischief  most  resolutely  if  Fox  or  any  other  of 
their  grand  speakers  dictate  it.^  One  of  the  informers,  however,  says  on 
the  contrary  that  the  Quakers  gave  the  first  notice  in  the  county  of  the 
plot.^  No  doubt  Sir  D.  Fleming's  hatred  of  the  Quakers  made  him  ready 
to  think  them  capable  of  any  evil,  but  Atkinson  himself  stated  under 
examination  that  he  sent  a  man  to  the  Quakers  in  Orton  parish  to  desire 
they  would  send  into  the  Bishoprick  (Durham)  to  know  how  forward  they 
were,  who  brought  word  to  Kirkby  Stephen  they  were  all  ready,  and  would 
lend  him  sixty  horse  on  the  day.'' 

In  the  Kirkby  Stephen  Parish  Register  there  is  the  following  entry, 
just  about  the  date  when  Captain  Atkinson  bought  Blue  Grass  from  Henry 
BIrkbeck  : — 

164S,  September  37  E^°  Buryed  Riehard  Darby  of  Kirkby  Stephen,  wlio  was 
slaine  by  Robert  Atkinson  of  Bluegrass  in  Mallerst.  He  slew  him  in  tbe  next 
bottome  Ciosse  above  Pendragon  Castle  in  Mallerstang  upon  the  Lorde  Day  in  the 
Afternoone. 

Tradition  says  that  it  was  a  duel,  and  that  they  fought  with  swords. 

Mallerstang  belonged  In  the  twelfth  century,  along  with  the  barony  of 
Westmorland,  to  Sir  Hugh  de  Morville,  the  gentlest  of  the  four  knights 
who  murdered  Thomas  a  Becket.  He  is  said  not  to  have  struck  a  blow 
himself.*  His  name  is  given  to  a  cone-shaped  hill  on  the  east  boundary  of 
Mallerstang — "  Sir  Hugh's  Seat."  After  the  sacrilege  his  lands  were 
forfeited,  and  granted  with  the  shrievalty  to  his  nephew  William  de 
Veteripont.  From  the  Veterlponts  towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth 
century  they  descended  through  the  female  side  to  the  de  Cliffords,  whose 
successor.   Lord  Hothfield,  is  now  Lord  of  the  Manor.     In  the  first  year 

1   State  Papers  (Domestic),  Charles  II.,  vol.  Ixxxiii.,  p.  98. 

-  Ihid.,  vol.  Ixxxiv.,  19  November,  1663. 

^  Ihid.,  vol.  xcviii.,  p.  80. 

*  "  Memorials  of  Canterbury  "  (Dean  Stanley),  pp.  70  and  80. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  6:^, 

of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  Mallerstang  provided  at  the  County  Muster  "  30 
Footmen  furnished  with  Jacks  or  stel  cotes  and  stele  cappes,  Bowes  1 6  and 
Billes  14,"  while  Kirkby  Stephen  itself  only  sent  26  in  all.*  In  16 19 
Francis,  last  Earl  of  Cumberland,  confirmed  the  tenants  of  the  manor  in 
their  holdings  at  the  ancient  rents,  which  were  almost  nominal,  by  a  deed 
(more  fully  quoted  on  p.  77),  they  paying  £i'j6j  14s.  6d.,^t  that  time  equal 
in  value  to  about  ;^i 5,000  now,  shewing  that  the  tenants  were  men  of 
substance  ;  but  they  lost  the  whole,  as  although  Francis  had  succeeded  to 
the  earldom  on  the  death  in  1605  of  his  elder  brother  George,  the  third 
Earl,  he  had  to  relinquish  the  estates  of  which  he  had  taken  possession  to 
Anne,  daughter  and  heiress  of  the  third  Earl,  after  protracted  law  suits,  in 
which  James  I.  tried  in  vain  to  influence  her. 

The  Countess  of  Pembroke  refers  to  this  in  her  Diary  : — 

The  18  M  30  of  January,  1617,  as  y"  year  begins  on  new  years  day  {1617-18), 
I  was  brought  before  K.  James  in  Whitehall  to  give  my  consent  to  the  award  w'' 
he  then  intended  to  make,  <5#  did  afterwards  perform,  concerning  all  the  lands  of 
mine  inheritance,  w''  I  utterly  refused,  &'  was  thereby  afterwards  brought  to  many 
S^  great  troubles.  But  notwithstanding  my  refusal,  y=  14  of  March  following,  at 
which  time  y"  s""  K.  James  took  his  journey  towards  Scotland,  did  my  s''  Lord  (her 
first  husband  the  Earl  of  Dorset)  sign  S^  seal  y'  award  in  Great  Dorsett  house,  by 
which  he  resigned  to  Fras.  Earl  of  Cumberland  &  Henry  Ld.  Clifford  his  son  &  to 
their  heirs  male  all  his  right  in  the  lands  of  mine  inheritance,  which  brought  many 
troubles  upon  me,  y'  most  part  of  y^  time  after  y'  I  lived  his  wife,  but  notwithstanding 
those  great  and  innumerable  difficulties  <^  opposition  God  protected  &f  inabled  me 
to  pass  through  them  all  (Ps,  xxxii.  8  ;   Isa.  xxx.  21  ;  Jer.  xlii.  3  ;   Ps.  Ixxi.).^ 

Francis,  Earl  of  Cumberland,  died  in  1640,  and  his  son  Henry  in  1643, 

but  the  unfortunate  tenants  continued  the  contest  in  the  law  courts,  and 

were  only  finally  defeated  in    1658,  when  the  Countess  says  in  her  Diary, 

after  describing  the  eviction  of  a  tenant  : — 

Within  a  while  after  I  did  lease  out  y''  s'^  James  Walker's  house  (^  tenement 
to  Jolin  Salkcid  of  Brough  for  21  years   at  a  yearly  Rack  Rent,  y'=  said  being  held 

^   State  Papers  (Domestic),  Elizabeth,  1559,  vol.  ii.,  p.  36. 
~  British  Museum  copy,  p.  124  (Harleian  MSS.  6177). 


64  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

before  at  a  fineable  Rent,  as  other  Lands  <^  Tenements  in  y  s""  County  of 
Westmorland  are  held  of  me,  <^  by  that  means  I  altered  y'  Tenure  of  y^  land  which 
was  y^  principal  thing  I  aimed  at  in  my  suites  in  Law  with  my  Westmorland 
Tenants  as  being  a  greater  benefit  ^  advantage  to  me  <^  my  posterity  &  to  all  y^ 
Landlords  &"  Tenants  in  y'  County  (Isai.  xxx.  ver.  21  ;  Jer.  xlii.  ver.  3  ;  Vs.  xxxiv. 
ver.  8). 

Long  after  the  death  of  the  Countess  the  tenants  succeeded,  in  the 
year  1739,  after  a  long  contest  in  Chancery,  in  regaining  their  ancient 
custom  of  tenant-right. 

I  copied  the  following  extract  from  an  old  MS.  which  I  found  among 
a  quantity  of  deeds  and  documents  relating  to  Mallerstang,  kindly  sent  to 
me  by  Mr.  Torbock,  the  owner  of  Outhgill  in  Mallerstang.  The  MS.  had 
the  date  161 7,  but  from  the  handwriting  I  should  say  it  was  written 
considerably  later,  and  I  conjecture  that  the  "  old  writing  "  referred  to  was 
dated  161  7  : — 

When  King  James  was  perswaiding  Lady  Anne  to  take  the  20,000  pounds 
said  what  a  fine  fortune  it  was  ;  she  said,  what  was  it,  she  had  a  field  in  the  north 
worth  20,000  pounds ;  he  said,  if  ever  he  went  to  Scotland  again  he  would  see  it. 
Suppose  Whinfield  Park  with  all  its  w^ood  on.  I  suppose  this  old  writing  is  the 
award  or  concerning  it  of  King  James  between  Francis  Earl  of  Cumberland  and 
his  niece  Anne,  she  to  have  20,000,  History  of  Wesmorland  say  15,000,  concerning 
the  agreement  Earl  Francis  made  with  the  Tenants  of  Westmorland  to  purchase 
their  fines  to  a  sevenpenny  fine  for  which  they  paid  about  27,000  and  took  the  Earl 
of  Dorset's  estate  as  security  if  Anne  his  niece  should  refuse  to  sign  when  of  age; 
she  did  refuse.  King  James  to  persuade  her  took  her  on  his  knee,  she  told  him 
he  might  cut  of  her  hand  if  he  pleased  and  make  it  sign  otherwise  she  never  would, 
he  kicked  her  of  his  knee  as  reported.  Earl  Dorsett  estate  was  entailed  and  the 
Tenants  lost  their  money. 

Anne,  Countess  of  Pembroke,  daughter  of  George,  third  Earl  of 
Cumberland,  was  the  noblest  lady  in  the  annals  of  Westmorland,  and  her 
memory  is  still  cherished  there.  She  was  born  in  1591,  and  only  14  at  her 
father's  death.  She  hated  the  Court  saying  that  if  she  went  there  at  all  she 
must    "  go  with    blinkers."      A  staunch  Royalist,  she  thoroughly  despised 


THE   BIRKBECKS  OF   WESTMORLAND.  65 

Cromwell,  saying,  "  What !  does  he  imagine  that  I,  who  refused  to  submit 
to  King  James,  will  submit  to  him  ?"  She  rebuilt  her  castles  at  Appleby, 
Brougham,  Pendragon,  Brough,  and  Skipton,  living  in  a  royal  style,  and 
governing  her  princely  estates  with  the  strength  and  dignity  of  a  great  feudal 
ruler.  One  of  her  "  progresses,"  or  removals  from  one  casde  to  another,  is 
described  in  her  Diary  :  "  My  women  attending  me  in  my  coach  drawn  w*" 
6  horses  and  my  menservants  on  horseback  and  a  great  many  of  y=  chief 
gentry  of  y°  county  and  of  my  neighbours  and  tenants  accompanying  me  in 
y'  my  removal."^  At  times  these  removals  were  made  in  her  horse  litter, 
her  gendewomen  attending  her  in  the  coach  drawn  with  six  horses.  Being 
hereditary  High  Sheriff  of  Westmorland  she  used  to  ride  on  a  white  charger 
before  the  judges  to  open  the  assizes. 

The  ruins  of  Pendragon  Casde  are  close  to  the  high  road  in  Maller- 
stang,  standing  well  above  the  river  Eden  ;  it  was  popularly  supposed  to 
have  been  first  built  by  Uther  Pendragon,  a  legendary  British  king,  about 
A.D.  500,  Uther  being  the  Saxon  name  Ughtred,  and  Pendragon  British, 
Pen  =  head,  Dragon  =  chief  or  warrior.  He  was  the  fabled  father  of  King 
Arthur,  who  is  said  to  have  fought  batdes  and  held  jousts  in  Inglewood  Forest, 
Cumberland.  King  Arthur's  Round  Table  in  the  parish  of  Brougham, 
three  miles  from  Hornby,  is  scheduled  under  the  Ancient  Monuments 
Act,  the  only  case  in  Westmorland  in  which  protection  is  given  by  that 
Act.  In  an  interesting  account  of  the  history  and  traditions  of  Mallerstang 
Forest,  the  Rev.  W.  Nichols  says,  on  the  authority  of  that  good  antiquarian 
Canon  Simpson,  the  late  Vicar  of  Kirkby  Stephen,  that  to  this  day  the  ghost 
of  Uther  Pendragon  is  said  to  appear  on  Shap  (or  Birkbeck)  Fell,  shewing 
how  thorougMy  his  existence  has  entered  into  the  traditions  of  the  people. 
An  old  couplet  still  quoted, 

Let  Uter  Pendragon  do  what  he  can, 
Eden  will  run  where  Eden  ran, 

^   British  Museum  copy,  fo.  195  (Harleian  MSS.  6177). 


66  THE    BIRKBECKS    OF    WESTMORLAND. 

seems  to  refer  to  an  attempt  to  turn  the  course  of  the  river  Eden  (which 
runs  just  below  the  castle)  into  a  moat  round  the  castle.  Vestiges  of  a 
moat  are  still  to  be  seen,  but  very  much  above  the  level  of  the  river.  Uther 
Pendragon  was  famous  as  a  worker  of  miracles,  but  to  make  water  flow  up 
hill  was  too  much  for  him. 

The  first  mention  of  the  castle  in  historic  times  is  in  the  long  list  of 
Clifford  lands  in  the  Inquisition  on  the  death  of  Robert  de  Clifford  in  the 
year  1314  :  "  Kirkby  Stephen  Manor,  there  is  there  in  the  Vale  of 
Mallerstang  one  castle  which  is  called  Pendragon,  which  is  in  the 
Hundred  of  Harcla,  and  one  vaccara  there  which  it  renders  by  the  year 
6  shillings."' 

Robert,  Lord  de  Clifford,  was  killed  at  Bannockburn,  and  his  son 
Roger  was  attainted  of  treason  in  1322  as  an  adherent  of  Thomas,  Earl  of 
Lancaster,  but  afterwards  pardoned.  He  died  unmarried,  but  there  was  3 
romance  as  to  one  Julian  of  the  Bower,  for  whom  he  built  a  house  called 
Julian's  Bower,  close  to  Hornby,  which  was  still  standing  in  the  time  of 
Anne,  Countess  of  Pembroke,  with  its  "  wainscotted  hall,  hung  round  with 
prodigious  stags'  heads." 

His  brother  Robert  succeeded  him,  and  entertained  Edward  Balliol  at 
Pendragon  Castle  on  his  expulsion  from  Scotland  in  1337.  Anne,  Countess 
of  Pembroke,  "  in  whom  y*"  name  of  y"  said  Cliffords  determined,"  says  in 
her  Diary  that  she  formed  the  design  of  restoring  Pendragon  Castle  as 
early  as  16 15,  but  she  had  several  other  ruined  castles  to  repair,  so  that  it 
was  not  till  1660  that  Pendragon  was  restored.  She  placed  the  following 
inscription  over  the  castle  gate  : — 

This  i'endragon  Castle  was  re|iayred  by  the  Lady  Anne  Clifiord,  countcsse  of 
I'L-nibroke,  Dorsett  and  Montgomerie,  baroncsse  Cliftbrd,  Westmorland  and  \"escie, 
bigh  Sbcriffessc  by  inheritance  of  the  county  of  Westmorlandj  and  lady  of  the 
honour  of  Skipton  in  Craven,  in  the  year  i66o  :  so  as  she  came  to  lye  in  it  herself 


Inq.  post  mortem  8  Edward  II.,  62. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  67 

for  a  little  while  in  October  i56i,  after  it  had  layen  ruinous  without  timber  or  anv 
covering  ever  since  the  year  1541.  Isaiah,  chap.  Iviii,  ver.  12.  God's  name  be 
praised. 

The  text  is  so  appropriate  that  it  must  be  quoted  here  :  "  And  they 
that  shall  be  of  thee  shall  build  the  old  waste  places  :  thou  shalt  raise  up  the 
foundations  of  many  generations  ;  and  thou  shalt  be  called,  The  repairer  of 
the  breach,  The  restorer  of  paths  to  dwell  in."  The  castle  was  dismantled 
in  1685,  and  has  since  been  a  quarry  for  building  stones.  The  reproduc- 
tion from  Buck's  engraving  shews  what  its  state  was  in  1738,  but  there  is 
very  little  now  remaining. 

Mallerstang  Chapel,  which  is  a  perpetual  curacy,  lies  a  mile  south  of 
the  castle,  and  is  said  to  have  been  built  during  the  life  of  Robert  de 
Clifford  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  and  as  recorded  in  a  stone  over  the 
door,  "  This  Chappie  of  Mallerstang,  after  it  had  layne  ruinous  and  decayed 
some  50  or  60  years,  was  new  repayred  by  the  Lady  Anne  Clifford, 
Countesse  Dowager  of  Pembroke,  Dorsett  and  Montgomery,  in  the  year 
1663."  She  also  made  an  endowment  of  the  yearly  value  of  ;^ii  "  for  the 
use  and  maintenance  of  a  reader  to  read  Divine  Service  and  to  teach  and  in- 
struct the  children  of  Mallerstang  aforesaid  to  read  and  write."  The  original 
deed  of  endowment  is  in  the  possession  of  Miss  Atkinson  of  Blue  Grass. 

The  Register  shews  the  longevity  of  the  inhabitants  ;  the  ages  of  eight 
consecutive  burials  on  one  page  in  1823-4  average  85  years.  The  burying- 
ground  only  dates  from  1 8 1 3  ;  prior  to  that  date  the  funerals  were  at  Kirkby 
Stephen  Church,  a  long  five  miles  from  the  chapel. 

I  have  not  found  any  references  to  Birkbecks  in  Mallerstang  earlier 
than  the  sixteenth  century.  Our  ancestors  do  not  appear  in  the  early 
Assize  Rolls  or  Law  Proceedings,  perhaps  from  their  having  been  a  more 
peaceable  family  than  others  of  the  name. 

There  is  an  undated  answer  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  to  a  Bill  of 
Complaint  of  the  Earl   of  Cumberland,  charging  William  Byrkebek   and 

K   2 


68  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

others  with  riot.  The  defendants  say  that  the  Earl's  servants  were  the 
rioters,  and  assaulted  Stephen  Byrkbeck  and  another  partisan  of  Lord 
Wharton's  at  Kirkby  Stephen  ;  that  when  the  defendants  went  with  speed 
to  Lord  Wharton  at  Wharton  to  know  the  occasion  of  the  riot,  the  Earl 
desired  them  to  go  home  again  "  without  that,"  and  sent  some  of  them 
to  hunt  in  the  forest  of  Mallerstang,  so  they  rode  peaceable  thither.  The 
riot  must  have  occurred  between  1 543,  when  Sir  Thomas  Wharton  was 
created  a  peer,  and  1 547,  when  Henry  VIII.  died. 

Deepgill,  the  home  of  the  parents  of  William  Birkbeck,  the  founder 
of  the  Settle  Birkbecks,  is  a  mile  to  the  south  of  the  chapel,  close  under  the 
northern  end  of  Wild  Boar  Fell,  the  steep  face  of  which  is  scarred  by  the 
deep  ravine  or  "  gill,"  cut  by  the  torrent  Deepgill,  from  which  the  house 
takes  its  name.  The  whole  side  of  Wild  Boar  Fell  is  flirrowed  by  the 
mountain-streams  rushing  down  from  springs  near  the  crest  of  the  hill 
forming  the  gills,  as  they  are  locally  called,  which  give  names  to  many  of  the 
farms  :  Shoregill,  Deepgill,  Hazelgill,  Angerholmegill,  Parrockgill,  Drygill, 
and  Aisgill  are  among  the  place  names  mentioned  as  having  belonged  to 
Birkbecks,  and  the  Ordnance  Map  shews  the  names  of  forty-three  gills  in 
Mallerstang  falling  into  the  Eden.  The  view  of  Hellgill,  which  is  three 
miles  south  of  Deepgill,  shews  how  deeply  the  streams  cut  into  the  rock. 

The  house  stands  about  a  third  of  a  mile  from  the  high  road,  the 
approach  to  it  crossing  the  Eden  by  an  old  bridge  called  Thrang  Bridge. 
It  is  a  small  but  substantially-built  farm-house,  a  grove  of  sycamore  trees  over- 
shadowing the  farm  premises,  with  grass  fields  in  front  and  on  either  side. 

I  found  traces  of  a  former  garden,  and  brought  away  cuttings  of  roses 
and  honeysuckle  run  wild,  which  have  grown  into  large  bushes  in  their  new 
home  on  the  west  coast  of  Scotland.  Sycamores  are  characteristic  of  the 
valley,  a  clump  of  them  standing  by  most  of  the  farm-houses  ;  few  other 
trees  would  withstand  the  furious  "Helm  Wind"  which  rushes  down  the 
precipitous  sides  of  Wild  Boar  Fell.     Behind  the  house  is  a  waterfall,  caused 


HELL    GILL. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  69 

by  the  stream  tearing  down  the  chasm  of  Deepgill,  which  is  crossed  by  a  high 
arch,  over  which  the  main  line  of  the  Midland  Railway  to  Carlisle  passes. 

The  house  itself,  with  its  thick  stone  walls  and  flagged  roof,  on  which 
houseleek  and  sedums  are  growing,  appears  to  be  very  much  in  its  original 
state.  There  is  some  old  carving  over  the  doorway  of  the  kitchen,  and  in 
the  living  room  a  good  old  oak  cabinet,  with  the  date  1664  carved  on  it, 
is  said  to  have  been  always  in  the  house.  About  the  year  1835  the  hearth- 
stone in  the  kitchen  was  taken  up,  and  a  brown  earthenware  pot  flill  of 
crooked  pins  was  found,  which  it  is  supposed  was  placed  there  in  old  times, 
possibly  when  the  house  was  built,  as  a  spell  against  witchcraft  or  evil 
spirits.  Belief  in  the  supernatural  lingers  long  in  these  dales.  Of  course 
Pendragon  is  haunted.  Beautiful  white  ladies  wander  about  the  ruins  at 
midnight,  a  headless  ghost  comes  out  of  the  Castle  gateway,  and  a  black  hen 
Invariably  frustrates  all  attempts  to  unearth  the  buried  treasure — a  chest  of 
gold — scratching  in  by  night  all  the  earth  dug  out  by  day.' 

Deepgill  was  purchased  by  the  Birkbecks  in  1592,  but  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  their  home  until  after  Blue  Grass  was  sold  in  1649.  The  first 
mention  of  their  living  there  is  the  entry  of  the  baptism  of  Richard  in 
1663,  when  his  father  William  Birkbeck  is  described  in  the  Register  as 
"  de  Deepgill."  A  portion  of  the  property  belonged  to  Thomas  Fothergill 
in  16 1 9,  as  mentioned  in  the  schedule  to  the  agreement  with  the  Earl 
of  Cumberland  (p.  78).  John  Fothergill,  who  married  a  daughter  of 
Geoffrey  Birkbeck,  died  at  Deepgill  in  1659,  and  their  son  was  living  there 
in  1672,  as  well  as  his  uncle  William  Birkbeck,  but  these  latter  Fothergills 
may  have  been  tenants  in  one  of  the  other  houses  on  the  Deepgill  property. 

I  have  failed  to  ascertain  when  Deepgill  passed  out  of  the  possession  of 

the  Birkbecks,  as  the  fines  generally  only  give  the  names  of  purchasers.    ~It 

now  belongs  to  Miss  Fawcett,  who  lives  at  "The  Thrang,"  a  modern  house 

adjoining  the  road  and  nearly  opposite  to  Deepgill  ;   it  is  held  under  Lord 

^  "  History  and  Traditions  of  Mallerstang  Forest,"  p.  103. 


70  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

Hothfield,  the  Lord  of  the  Manor.  Miss  Fawcett  kindly  searched  through 
her  deeds  of  the  Deepgill  property,  but  they  are  not  early  enough  to  give 
the  name  of  any  Birkbeck  owner.  The  regular  Manor  Rolls  of  Mallerstang 
at  Appleby  Castle  do  not  go  back  beyond  i  740,  though  there  are  Boundary 
Ridings  and  other  documents  of  much  earlier  date,  some  of  which  are 
quoted  later.  Captain  Grimshaw  of  Hutton  Lodge,  Soulby,  who  owns 
property  in  Mallerstang,  and  whose  ancestor  John  Wharton  was  the  owner 
of  Deepgill  in  1773,  shewed  me  his  manuscripts,  including  a  quantity  of  deeds 
and  other  documents,  the  earliest  relating  to  Birkbecks  being  dated  1623. 
Captain  Grimshaw  also  most  kindly  accompanied  me  one  day  to  Mallerstang 
and  assisted  me  in  obtaining  further  information. 

There  are  several  other  smaller  houses  on  the  estate,  one  of  which 
called  "  The  Sycamore  Trees,"  three  or  four  hundred  yards  from  Deepgill 
House,  is  mentioned  in  a  letter  (p.  89)  from  a  James  Metcalfe  as  an 
estate  which  belonged  to  Richard,  the  eldest  brother  of  William  Birkbeck, 
who  left  Deepgill  for  Settle.  The  will  of  their  father  (p.  85)  bequeaths 
his  land  to  Richard  in  two  moieties,  one  moiety  being  "  the  Great  Holme 
and  Holme  House,"  the  other  moiety  consisting  of  "  the  Little  Lig  with 
one  house,  the  Little  Holme,  Load  [?  Lord)  Burns  Close,  and  half  of  the 
ffive  house  and  half  of  the  waists  before  Doone  (^  Door)."  The  "  Holmes  " 
are  marked  on  the  6-inch  Ordnance  Map  as  the  grassfields,  lying  for  a  mile 
along  the  river  in  front  of  Deepgill  House,  which  I  presume  was  "  Holme 
House."  Lord  Burn  Close  is  an  enclosure  at  the  top  of  Hazelgill,  which 
runs  down  the  side  of  Wild  Boar  Fell  half  a  mile  to  the  south  of  Deepgill, 
and  Little  Lig  is  across  the  road  opposite  the  entrance  of  Hazelgill  Burn 
into  the  Eden. 

As  many  of  our  ancestors  were  buried  at  Kirkby  Stephen,  I  will  add  a  few 
notes  on  the  grand  old  church.  It  contains  some  interesting  tombs :  one  of 
Sir  Richard  Musgrave,  died  1464,  who  was  said  by  tradition  to  have  killed 
the  last  wild  boar  in  England  on  Wild  Boar  Fell  in  Mallerstang  ;    certainly 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  71 

when  the  tomb  was  opened  in  i  847,  during  the  restoration  of  the  chancel,  a 

boar's  tusk  was  found  in  the  leaden  coffin.     Wild  boars  were  denizens  of 

most  of  the   forests   in   the   south   of  England   at  least  till   the   reign   of 

Henry  II.,  and  lingered  much  later  in  the  northern  counties.     In  the  reign 

of  that  great  game-preserver  William  the  Conqueror,  any  one  killing  a  wild 

boar,  stag,  or  roebuck  was  liable  to   have  his  eyes   put   out.     Another,  a 

large  alabaster  monument  with  three  full-length   figures,  is   the   tomb   of 

Thomas,  first  Lord  Wharton,  who  was  raised  to  the  peerage  by  Henry  VIII. 

in  I  543  for  having,  with  1400  men,  utterly  defeated  the  Scots  Army,  i  5,000 

strong,  at  SoUom  Moss.     The  figures  of  Lord  Wharton,  with  a  wife  on  either 

side,  and  his  head  resting  on  a  bull's  head  (the  Wharton  crest),  gave  rise  in 

the  last  century  to  a  paraphrase  of  the  Latin  inscription  on  the  tomb  : — 

Thomas  Whartonus  jacco  hie,  hie  utraque  conju.Y, 
Elionora  suum  hinc,  hinc  habet  Anna  locum  ; 
En  tibi  terra  tvnim,  carnes  ac  ossa  resume ; 
In  coclos  aninias  tu  Dcus  alme,  tuum. 

Here  I  Thomas  Wharton  do  lie, 
With  Lucifer  under  my  head, 
And  Nelly  my  wife  hard  by. 
And  Nancy  as  cold  as  lead. 
Oh  !   How  can  I  speak  without  dread  ! 
Who  could  my  sad  fortune  abide, 
With  one  devil  under  my  head, 
And  another  laid  close  on  each  side! 

Dr.  Burn  says,  in  the  "  History  of  Westmorland,"  that  the  bull's  head 
was  popularly  supposed  to  represent  the  Devil  in  a  vanquished  position,  and 
adds  that  the  English  lines  were  written  by  a  waggish  schoolmaster  ;  the 
latter  was  Dr.  Burn  himself,  who  at  the  time  was  Head  Master  of  Kirkby 
Stephen  Grammar  School. 

The  Rev.  Francis  Higginson,  who  was  Vicar  during  the  Common- 
wealth, was  very  active  in  his  persecution  of  the  Quakers,  and  wrote  two 
pamphlets  against  them.     Dr.  Burn,  himself  Vicar  of  Orton,  writing  more 


72  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

than  120  years  ago,  after  quoting  parts  of  the  pamphlets,  remarks  :  "  Such 
was  the  rise  of  the  Quakers  ....  in  these  days  we  may  see  the  happy 
effects  of  toleration.  By  letting  them  alone,  they  are  coming  about  of 
themselves,  and  in  the  next  generation  most  of  their  formal  absurdities  will 
be  no  more  heard  of."^ 

Machell,  writing  in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  calls 
Kirkby  Stephen  "  the  nest  of  all  traitors." 

The  tithes,  until  early  in  the  present  century,  were  always  paid  on 
Easter  Monday,  being  laid  on  a  flat  tombstone,  which  still  exists  in  the 
churchyard,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  monument  of  a  Wharton. 

The  early  Registers  at  Kirkby  Stephen  are  unfortunately  defective, 
commencing  April,  1647,  and  they  do  not  agree  with  the  transcripts  at 
Carlisle,  which  are  also  fragmentary,  many  entries  being  absent  from  either, 
and  several  years  wanting  at  different  times  from  each  ;  there  is  one  gap 
of  eighteen  years  between  April,  1659,  and  March,  1677. 

During  the  Commonwealth  few  parish  registers  were  properly  kept, 
particularly  with  reference  to  marriages.  The  Little  Parliament  of  the  year 
1653  declared  that  marriage  was  to  be  merely  a  civil  contract  ;  accordingly 
it  was  enacted  that  the  names  of  parties  intending  to  be  married  were  to  be 
proclaimed  either  in  church  after  morning  service  on  two  successive  Sundays, 
or  in  the  market-place  on  three  successive  market  days  according  to  the 
wish  of  the  parties.  By  the  same  Act  marriages  were  not  to  be  performed 
by  the  parson,  but  by  the  Justices  of  the  Peace.^ 

It  is  very  unlucky  that  the  earliest  books  at  the  time  most  important 
for  the  pedigree  are  missing.  I  have  inserted  (p.  73)  the  entries  referring 
to  the  Mallerstang  Birkbecks  in  the  Registers  at  Kirkby  Stephen  and  in  the 
Carlisle  transcripts.  There  are  also  later  Birkbeck  entries  relating  to  Kirkby 
Stephen  Birkbecks,  who  were  not  connected  with  those  of  Mallerstang. 

*■  "  History  of  Westmorland,"  vol.  i.,  p.  540. 

'  "Old  English  Social  Life,  as  told  by  the  Registers"  (T.  F.  Thiselton  Dyer), 
pp.  127.  '31- 


THE    BIRKBECKS    OF    WESTMORLAND.  73 

The  Curfew  Bell  is  still  rung  at  8  p.m.  in  the  steeple.  I  once  thought 
that  I  should  be  compelled  to  ring  it  myself.  I  was  engaged  the  whole 
afternoon  in  the  vestry  making  extracts  from  the  old  registers.  When 
leaving  at  dusk  I  found  that  the  church  door,  which  had  been  left  open,  was 
closed  by  the  wind,  and,  being  self-locking,  I  was  a  prisoner.  After  trying 
in  vain  to  make  myself  heard  by  passers-by,  I  was  just  going  to  ring  one  of 
the  bells  when  I  found  the  key  hanging  up  by  the  bell-pull. 


EXTRACTS    FROM   KIRKBY   STEPHEN    PARISH   REGISTER. 

Entries  marked  K.  S.  are  from  the  Register  in  the  Church. 
Entries  marked  C.  are  from  the  Transcript  at  Carlisle. 

Baptisms. 

Isabel!,  dau.  of  William  Birkbeck  de  Malierstang.     K.  S.  and  C. 

Richard,  son  of  William  Birkbeck  de  Deepgill.     C. 

Agnes,  dau.  of  William  Birkbeck  de  Malierstang.     C. 

John  &  Frances,  son  &  dau.  of  William  Birkbeck  of  Malier- 
stang.    K.  S. 

Isabcll,  dau.  of  William  Birkbecke  of  Malierstang.     K.  S.  and  C. 

Agnes,  dau.  of  William  Birkbeck  of  Malierstang.     C. 

•lane,  dau.  of  Richard  Birbeck  of  Malierstang.     K.  S. 

Ruth,  dau.  of  Richard  Birbeck  of  Malierstang.     K.  S. 

Isabel,  dau.  of  John  Birkbeck  de  Malierstang.     K.  S.  and  C. 

JeoftVey,  son  of  John  Birkbeck  of  Angerholme  in  Mailer''. 
K.  S.  and  C. 

Marriages. 
1656     June    16     John  flbthergill  &  Jane  Birkbeck.     K.  S.  and  C. 
1665-6    Jan.    6     George  Birkbeck^  &'  Margarett  Teabey,  widd.     C. 
1677     May    zi     William   Birkbecke  of  Malierstang  &  Issabell  Bell   of  Hartley. 
K.  S. 

1  George  Birkbeck  was  of  Raisbeck,  Orton,  where  he  owned  land,  which  he  held  after 
his  father  settled  at  Soulby  in  Kirkby  Stephen  parish.  The  numerous  law  suits  he  was 
involved  in  tell  the  story  of  his  family: — Chancei7  Proceedings  before  1714:  Whittington, 
i.,  497  ;   ii.,  136,  147,  198  ;   Collins,  iv.,  20;  Bridges,  iv.,  560. 

L 


1657 

Julv 

19 

1663 

Oct. 

18 

1666 

Dec. 

4 

I677-; 

8  Mar. 

14 

1680 

Aug. 

,S 

I6S4 

Aug. 

3 

1694 

Dec. 

zo 

1696 

Dec. 

iS 

1702 

May 

17 

I7I4- 

5  Jan. 

20 

74  THE   BIRKBECKS    OF   WESTMORLAND. 

1687-8   Feb.  25  Richard  Birbeck  ^  Ruth  Waller,  Mallerstang.     K.  S. 

1688-9  Jan.  31  Stephen  Todd  &  Agnes  Birbeck.     K.  S. 

1696     April  26  John  Shaw  «^  Isabell  Birbeck.     K.  S. 

1696     Nov,  10  Christoph'  Millner  <^  Margret  Birbeck.     K.  S. 

1742     June   14  Anth.  Fothergill  &  Frances  Birkbeck,  Mall.     C. 

Burials. 

1670     Sep.    20  Issabell,  the  wife  of  Jeoffrey  Birkbeck  Jate  of  Mallerstang.      C. 

1681-2  Mar.    6  Henry  Berbecke  de  Kerkby.     K.  S. 

1684-5  Jan.  28  Agnes,  dau.  of  William  Birkbecke,  Mallerstang.     K.  S. 

1687     June     2  George  Birbeck^  of  Soulbie.     K.  S. 

1694     April  II  Margret  Birbeck^  of  Soulbie.     K.  S. 

1697-8  Mar.    8  Ruth,  dau.  of  Richard  Birbeck  of  Mallerstang.      K.  S. 

1698     Aug.   12  William  Birbeck  of  Mallerstang.     K.  S. 

1715     Nov.     7  Issabel  Burbeck  of  Mallerstang.     K.  S.  and  C. 

1722-3  Mar.  19  James  Birkbeck  of  Outhgill,  Mallerstang,  aged  56.     K.  S.  and  C. 


See  previous  note. 


(     75     ) 


THE    BIRKBECKS    OF    MALLERSTANG. 


The  earliest  record  I  have  of  the  Mallerstang  family,  from  whom  the 
Settle  branch  sprang,  is  in  a  Survey  of  the  Barony  of  Appleby  made  in 
1604,  which  is  among  the  muniments  at  Appleby  Castle  : — 

MALLERSTANGE. 

SouTHVVAiTE. — John  Birkbeck  son  of  Alexander  Birkbecke  deceased  holdeth 
a  teu'te  [tenement]  att  blewgrasse  &"  was  admitted  of  the  moitie  1583  1^  of  thother 
moitie  1588.  vj» 

He  hath  improved  a  rood  (5#  the  4  pt  of  a  rood,  the  gr.  [grassora]  of 
Alexander  Birkbecke  all  unpaid,  bond  xviij%  1605.  not  r'  nor  in  S'"vey  1582 

He  also  holdeth  the  moitie  of  an  improv*  r.  [rent]  xij*  by  assignm*  of  Xpofer 
flothergill,  ad.  [admitted]  1592  &  a.  p'cell  of  ground  r.  i''  by  th'assignm' of  Gabriell 
flbthergill  brother  of  Henry  ffothergill  deceased.  xiij'' 

He  hath  married  W™  his  son  to  p'te  of  his  ten'te. 


Deepgill. — John  Birkbecke  holdeth  a  ten'te  r.  v^  ij*  &  an  improvm'  r. 
If  iiij'i  by  assignm'  of  Humfrey  Blenkarn  w'^'"  was  form'"ly  in  the  tenure  of  Barnabie 
Skaif  assignee  of  Henry  Birkdale,  ad.  1592.  vij^  vj*^ 

Vx.  [uxor]  Skaif  ten'  m'dict'  jure  vid'. 

He  gave  H.  Blenkarn  461'  13"  4''  for  no  int'rest  because  he  held  this  for  his 
recompence  for  his  paines  for  writing  the  booke  of  dymise  1582. 

He  hath  builded  a  fier  house  on  the  wast  1^  improved  A  rood  and  a  half 
of  iiTound.  not  r'  nor  in  S'vey  1582 

Composuit  [later  handwriting]. 

On  the  jury  of  the  above  Survey  for  Winton,  Kirkby  Stephen,  and 
Mallerstang  appears  the  name  of  "John  Birkbecke  of  Mallerstange." 

Blue  Grass  is  situated  about  a  mile  to  the  north  of  Pendragon  Castle 
and  near  the  hamlet  of  Southwaite  in  Mallerstang  ;  the  latter  was  granted 

L  2 


76  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

to  Roger  de  Clifford  by  a  charter  of  3  February,  36  Edward  III.  Deepgill 
is  to  the  south  of  the  Casde.  As  before  mentioned  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  Alexander  may  have  been  related  to  the  Birkbecks  of  Eamont 
Bridge  and  Great  Musgrave  (p.  56),  his  descendants  having  had  in  so 
marked  a  manner  the  same  Christian  names  as  those  of  the  latter  family  ; 
but  we  have  seen  (p.  67)  that  there  were  Birkbecks  in  Mallerstang  early  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  The  Christian  name  of  one  of  these,  William 
Byrkebek,  was  a  typical  Deepgill  name  which  has  never  been  wanting  in 
each  generation  down  to  the  present  day. 

JOHN  BIRKBECK,  son  of  ALEXANDER  BIRKBECK  of  Blue 
Grass  in  Mallerstang,  was  admitted  to  Blue  Grass  a.d.  1582,  apparently  on 
the  death  of  his  father,  and  he  purchased  Deepgill,  being  admitted  a.d.  i  592. 
The  consideration  paid  for  the  latter  may  be  taken  to  represent  between 
/jooo  and  /."1200  at  the  present  value  of  money,  but  we  do  not  know  how 
much  of  the  present  property  was  included  in  the  purchase  of  1592.  It  is 
not  clear  whether  it  was  the  purchaser  or  the  vendor  who  "  held  this  for  his 
recompence  for  his  paines  for  writing  the  booke  of  dymise  1582."  John 
Birkbeck  married  Catherine  ....  who  survived  him.  He  died  between 
I  August,  16 19,  and  15  March,  1619-20.      His  will  is  as  follows  :— 

In  the  Name  of  (^od,  Aiiiru.  I  .John  BirklKck  of  Mallcrstange,  sick  in 
bodic,  hut  wiiolle  in  niindc  and  perfect  in  reniend)ranec  Ciod  be  tlianked,  doe 
ordaiiic  and  make  this  my  last  Will  and  'i'cstament  in  manner  and  forme  follow- 
inge,  viz.  ;  First  I  doe  give  and  becjuietli  my  Soule  unto  Allmighty  CJod  my  maker 
and  redeemer,  and  my  bodie  to  be  buried  in  the  p'isb  Cluireli  or  Cliurebyarde  of 
Kirkbiestephin.  Ite'  Whereas  my  sonne  Willi'm  is  ten'nt  of  the  wlioll  Tcnem'  at 
Biewgrasse  in  the  saide  JVfallerstauge,  and  liaith  the  possession  and  occupation  of 
everie  p't  and  p'ceil  thereof  condiconallie  that  he  shall  kepe  and  mentaine  me  the 
saide  John  Birkbeck  and  Cathrine  nowe  my  Wife  sufficiently  w'th  meate  and 
drinkc  duringe  our  natm-all  lives  at  the  nowe  dwelling-bouse  of  the  said  Will'm 
m\'  .Sonne,  therefore  it  is  mv  minde  and  will  that  aeeortlinge  to  the  said  condition 
and  agrem^  the  said  Will'm  shall  mentaine  and  kecpe  the  said  Catberiuc  mv  Wife 
sufficiently  w"'  meate  &>  iliinke  as  beretoloi-e  she  liaith  been,  if  she  will  be  willinge 
to  abide  and  remaine  w'''  him  at  his  saide  dwellinoe-liouse.      Ite'  it  is  mv  nnnde  and 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  77 

will  that  mv  soniie  Geoffrey  his  Power  children,  namelie  John,  Helliii,  Agnes,  and 
Nicholas  shall  haue  everie  one  of  them  iij^  iiij"".  Ite'  I  doe  give  and  betjuieth  unto 
my  sonn  Will'ms  five  children  namely  Agnes,  Henry,  John,  Margret,  and 
Elizabeth  every  one  iij'  iiij"*.  Ite'  I  doe  give  unto  my  sonn  Will'm  his  daughter 
Agnes  Birkbeck  one  greate  brasse  pott,  and  all  the  rest  of  my  goods  moveable  and 
unmoveable,  my  Wife  haveing  hir  third  part  of  the  whole  according  to  the  lawe  and 
my  funerall  expences  being  discharged,  I  doc  give  and  bequieth  unto  my  sonn 
Will'm,  whome  I  make  my  whole  Executor  conditonally  that  he  or  his  assignes 
shall  mentaine  and  keepe  my  sonn  Henry  w'"  meate  and  drinke  and  apparrell 
dureing  his  natural!  life.  I  doe  make  supvizors  of  this  my  will  my  sonn  Geoffrey 
Birkbeck,  Leonard  Wharton,  Will'm  Fothergill  and  Heugh  Fawcet.  In  witnesse 
whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  the  first  day  of  August  Anno  Dom'i  1619. 

Witnesses  hereof  Will'm  Fothergill,  Annie  Pearson  1^  Jefferye  Birkbeck. 

Proved  in  the  Consistory  Coin-t  of  Carlisle  15  March,  1619-20. 

The  legacies  to  the  grandchildren  sound  to  us  very  trifling,  even 
though  with  the  relative  value  of  money  each  was  probably  equivalent  to 
between  £2  ^"^  ^'4  now  ;  but  we  must  remember  that  there  were  no  banks, 
and  any  spare  cash  would  at  once  be  put  into  land  or  flirm  stock,  so  that 
a  yeoman  or  squire  would  hardly  possess  any  ready-money. 

John  Birkbeck  left  three  sons  living  at  his  death,  William  {ridt  infra), 
Geoffrey  (p.  81),  and  Henry,  of  whom  the  mention  in  the  will  is  the  only 
record  I  have  found,  and  who,  from  the  provision  in  the  will  for  his 
maintenance,  may  have  been  an  invalid. 

WILLIAM  BIRKBECK  of  Blue  Grass  was  heir  under  his  father's 
will,  but  he  had  been  put  in  possession  of  Blue  Grass  by  his  father  before 
16 19  [ride  the  will,  p.  76).  From  the  curious  expression  in  the 
Survey  (p.  75),  "he  hath  married  William  his  son  to  part  of  his 
tenement,"  some  of  the  land  may  have  been"  settled  on  his  marriage,  but  I 
have  found  no  mention  of  the  name  of  his  wife.  From  the  following  agree- 
ment, made  In  16 19  between  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  and  the  tenants  of  the 
Manor,  he  seems  to  have  been  the  principal  holder  of  land  in  Mallerstang  : — 

Indenture  dated  20  October,  17  James  I.,  between  Francis,  Earl  of 
Cumberland,  and  Lord  Clifford  his  son  and  heir,  and  William  Birkbecke, 


78  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

GeofFrey  Birkbecke,  and  fourteen  others,  customary  tenants  to  the  said  Earl 
withhi  his  forest  and  manor  of  Mallerstang — they  are  severally  seized  to 
them  and  their  heirs,  of  and  in  their  tenements  in  Mallerstang  by  custom  of 
tenant-right  for  ever — mentions  the  suit  between  the  Countess  of  Dorset 
(Anne,  Countess  of  Pembroke)  and  the  Earl  of  Cumberland  ;  and  the  King's 
award  therein,  which  allowed  the  Earl  "  to  assure  all  and  any  the  messuages, 
lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments  situate,  lying,  or  being  within  the  said 
county  of  Westmorland,  which  were  then  claymed  or  holden  by  force  or 
colour  of  a  custome  or  pretended  custome  of  tennant  right,"  to  the  tenants 
and  their  heirs  at  certain  rents.  In  accordance  with  the  award  the  Earl 
grants  that  they  inay  hold  their  lands,  etc.,  on  payment  of  the  ancient  rents 
and  fines.  The  tenants  had  to  pay  .£1767  14s.  6d.  for  confirmation  of  their 
estates.  The  schedule  gives  the  names  of  eleven  tenants  only,  although 
sixteen  are  mentioned  in  the  body  of  the  deed.  William  Birkbeck  had 
three  different  farms,  but  their  names  are  not  mentioned,  though  the  abodes 
of  all  the  other  tenants,  except  that  of  Geoffrey  Birkbeck,  are  given.  The 
total  amount  of  the  rents  was  £-]  13s.  2d.,  of  which  William  Birkbeck  paid 
£\.  4s.  id.  and  Geoffrey  los.  6d  ;  the  amount  of  fines  paid  on  death  is  not 
stated.'  The /^i  767 — of  course  equivalent  to  many  times  that  amount  in 
these  days — was  thrown  away,  for,  as  before  stated,  the  Countess  eventually 
forced  her  uncle  to  give  up  her  property. 

Captain  Grimshaw  has  a  deed,  dated  19  February,  1622-3,  which  is 
witnessed  by  William  Birkbeck  in  a  good  signature  ;  and  at  Appleby 
Castle  there  is  a  copy  of  an  indenture  made  in  1591  between  George,  Earl 
of  Cumberland,  and  Philip,  Lord  Wharton,  at  the  foot  of  which  is  written, 
"  This  is  a  true  copy  off  the  Indenture  between  the  right  ho^''^  p'ties,  written 
by  Will'm  Birkbeck  the  xii*  off  November,  1624."  It  is  beautifiilly 
engrossed  on  parchment,  and  certainly  looks  as  if  it  were  copied  by  a  lawyer. 
A  William  Birkbeck  was  admitted  to  Gray's  Inn  in  1577,  who  was 
1  Close  Roll,  17  James  I.,  pt.  9,  No.  4. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND.  79 

connected  with  and  apparently  a  relation  of  the  Eamont  Bridge  and  Great 
Musgrave  family  (p.  56).  If  he  were  21  when  admitted  to  Gray's  Inn,  he 
would  have  been  63  when  John  Birkbeck  of  Blue  Grass  died  in  1619. 
There  is  no  proof  whatever  that  the  copy  was  written  by  William  Birkbeck  of 
Blue  Grass,  but  the  latter  having  been  a  tenant  under  the  Mallerstang  Manor, 
to  which  the  deed  related,  this  is  at  least  probable.  If  William  Birkbeck  of 
Gray's  Inn  were  also  of  Blue  Grass  it  would  be  evidence  of  the  connection 
between  the  Mallerstang  family  and  the  Birkbecks  of  Eamont  Bridge  and 
Great  Musgrave. 

I  do  not  know  when  William  Birkbeck  died.  He  had  issue,  Henry 
[vide  infra),  John  (living  1649,  and  perhaps  married  to  Phillis  ....), 
Agnes,  Margaret,  and  Elizabeth,  all  mentioned  in  the  will  of  their 
grandfather. 

HENRY  BIRKBECK,  eldest  son  ot  William,  born  circa  1607,' 
succeeded  to  Blue  Grass,  but  being  a  Royalist  he  got  into  difficulties,  and 
sold  the  property  in  1649  ^^  Robert  Atkinson  to  prevent  its  sequestra- 
tion.' ^  He  was  returned  in  the  levy  of  Hearth  Tax  at  Kirkby  Stephen  in 
1670,  and  in  1676  was  living  at  Wharton  Dykes  in  the  parish  of  Kirkby 
Stephen,  about  two  miles  from  Blue  Grass,  "  reduced  to  great  poverty  and 
extremity  by  the  late  usurpation,  but  a  very  honest  and  upright  man  in  his 
dealings,  and  provided  for  his  children  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability."^  He 
was  buried  at  Kirkby  Stephen  6  March,  168 1-2.  His  wife  Anne  was 
aged  58  or  thereabouts  in  1677.* 

They  had  issue  living  in  1677,  William  {^vide  iiifra),  Roger  (vide 
p.    81),   and   Margaret;    two   younger   children   died    between    1648   and 

1677.^ 

WILLIAM  BIRKBECK,  eldest  son  of  Henry,  born  circa  1641, 
was  five   years  at  Kirkby   Stephen    Grammar   School  ;  admitted   Sizar  at 

1  Chancery  Depositions,  Hamilton,  v.,  bundle  238,  1676,  Birkbeck  v.  Wharton. 
-  Chancery  Proceedings  before  17 14,  Mitford,  bundle  253,  No.  145. 


8o  THE    BIRKBECKS    OF    WESTMORLAND. 

St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  i6  October,  1657,  i£t.  16;  B.A.  1661  ; 
Fellow  on  Simpson's  Foundation  1663;  M.A.  1669;  Proctor  St.  John's 
1670  ;  Legista  (two  Fellows  were  then  allowed  to  be  barristers)  1671.  The 
Fellowship  was  filled  up  27  March,  1694,  but  whether  vacated  by  death  or 
marriage  is  not  stated.^  In  1675  he  brought  a  suit  against  Michael 
Wharton  to  recover  a  part  of  the  purchase-money  of  Blue  Grass,  for  which 
he  asserted  Robert  Atkinson  had  given  a  bond  for  the  benefit  of  Henry 
Birkbeck's  children,  and  which  his  uncle  GeoflFrey  Birkbeck  had  delivered 
to  Michael  Wharton,  in  order  to  prevent  the  money  being  sequestered  on 
account  of  Henry  Birkbeck  being  a  Royalist.'  In  1676  he  was  engaged  in 
a  suit  as  to  the  payment  by  one  of  his  Cambridge  pupils  to  recover  money 
paid  for  the  latter's  food  and  necessaries.^ 

In  Machell's  MS.  History  of  the  Borders,  vol.  v.,  p.  39,  is  the  following, 
apparently  written  when  Machell  was  with  Dugdale,  who  was  making  his 
Heralds'  Visitation,  and  dated  the  very  day  on  which  Dugdale  certified  the 
arms  of  Thomas  Birkbeck  of  Hornby,  after  saying  that  he  believed  Dugdale 
had  made  a  mistake  in  tracing  the  Fess  cheque  or  and  sable  : — 

Appleby,  22  Martij  1664,  Mr.  Dugd. 
MenioraiKluni.      Mr.    William   Birljcck   son    of   George    Birbeck    of    Kirkby 
Stephen  d*  fellow  of  St.  Johns  Col.  in  Cambridge,  has  a  patent,  or  a  eopv  of  a  Patent 
\\1).   the   Arms   which   was  granted   to  one    Birbeck   of  Carlisle:  of  (may  be)  the 
beginner  of  this  family.      I  should  see  it  <S#  know  wiience  he  had  it. 

William  Birkbeck,  the  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  was  son  of  Henry,  not 
George.  Major  R.  S.  Birkbeck  wrote  to  W.  Lloyd  Birkbeck  in  1881, 
"This  mem™  of  Machell  convinces  me  that  the  Birkbecks  of  Hornby  and 
Kirkby  Stephen  (Mallerstang)  were  of  the  same  family,  or  Machell  would 

1  Admissions  to  St.  John's  College,  Fellows  St.  John's  College.  Add.  MSS. 
.5850,  5855  ;  Fasti  F:eel.  Ang.  (John  I,e  Neve),  iii.,  685  ;  "  History  of  St.  John's  College  " 
(Baker),  pp.  299,  301. 

-  Chancery  Proceedings  before  17 14:  Mitfurd,  bundle  253,  No.  145;  Hamilton,!., 
,571  and  531  ;  v.,  228. 

■'  Chancery  Proceedings  before  17 14,  Whittington,  ii.,  bundle  125. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  8i 

not  have  sought  at  Kirlcby  Stephen  to  correct  the  arms  borne  by  Mr. 
Birkbeck  of  Hornby."  I  beHeve,  however,  that  Major  Birkbeck  subse- 
quently saw  reason  to  alter  his  opinion. 

ROGER  BIRKBECK,  second  son  of  Henry  (p.  79),  was  a  citizen  of 
London,  belonging  to  the  Carpenters'  Company,  and  living  1676.  His 
sister  Margaret  married  Thomas  Harrison,  gentleman,  and  was  living  at  or 
near  Kirkby  Stephen  1676.* 

GEOFFREY  BIRKBECK,  son  of  John  Birkbeck  (vide  p.  77)  and 
mentioned  in  his  will.  He  held  an  estate  in  Mallerstang  in  16 19,  being 
party  to  the  agreement  with  the  Earl  of  Cumberland,*  but  the  name  of  his 
place  is  not  given.  Captain  Grimshaw  has  a  manuscript  list  of  "  the  jury 
maid  and  agreed  upon  in  the  year  1641  concerning  the  rent  of  a  parcell 
of  ground  called  Shoregill  Side,  bought  by  Jeffra  Birkbeck."  Shoregill  is 
just  opposite  Mallerstang  Church.  A  George  Birkbeck  was  one  of  the  jury, 
who  were  probably  tenants  of  the  Manor,  but  I  do  not  know  who  he  was. 
George  Birkbeck  of  Soulby,  who  was  buried  at  Kirkby  Stephen  2  June,  1687, 
would  not  have  been  a  tenant  of  the  Manor,  Soulby  being  on  the  other  side 
of  Kirkby  Stephen.  At  Appleby  Castle  there  is  a  survey  of  the  boundaries  of 
the  Manor  of  Mallerstang,  commencing  "  The  Bounds  of  Mallerstang, 
for  my  Lord  of  Cumberland,"  and  endorsed  "  Geoffrey  Birkbecke,  his  notes 
of  the  Bounds  of  Mallerstange  1636."  In  165  i  he  was  present  at  a  boundary 
riding  of  the  Manor  and  signed  the  memorandum.  He  is  mentioned 
several  times  in  the  suit  of  his  great-nephew  William  against  Wharton,  and 
is  stated  to  have  died  "a  considerable  time  after  1648."  The  will  of  his 
widow  Isabel  does  not  mention  four  children  of  Geoffrey,  viz.,  John, 
Nicholas,  Helen,  and  Agnes,  who  are  mentioned  in  the  will  of  their  grand- 
father John  Birkbeck  of  Blue  Grass ;  probably  they  died  previously.  She 
must  have  been  very  old  as  she  had  a  great-granddaughter. 

'   Chancery  Proceedings  before  1714,  Hamilton,  i.,  531. 
2  Close  Roll,  17  James  I.,  pt.  9,  No.  4. 


82  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

September  y<=  ii"",  1670. 
In  the  name  of  God  Amen.  I  Issabell  Birkbeck  sick  in  body  but  hole  in  mind 
and  perfect  in  remembrance,  thanks  be  to  God,  doe  make  my  last  will  and  Testament 
in  manner  and  forme  following.  First  I  bequeath  my  soule  into  the  hands  of  Almighty 
God  and  into  the  hands  of  Jesus  Christ  who  suffered  death  upon  the  Cross  for  my 
sins  being  verily  perswaded  that  after  this  life  ended  he  will  resave  my  soule  into  his 
Heavenly  Kingdom  and  my  body  to  be  buried  in  the  Churchyeard  of  Cribbsteven 
(^  doe  make  this  my  last  will  and  Testament  revoking  all  other  wills.  Item  I  give  my 
granddoughter  Margret  Whitfield  five  shillings  and  to  her  doughter  five  shillings,  I 
give  to  my  grandoughter  Jeffrey  Fothergill  five  shillings,  I  give  to  my  grandoughter 
Issabell  Birkbeck  elder  five  shillings,  I  give  to  my  grandoughter  Margret  Nealson 
five  shillings,  I  give  to  my  grandsonn  Richard  Birkbeck  five  shillings,  I  give  to  my 
granddoughter  Isabell  Birkbeck  younger  five  shillings,  I  give  to  my  granddoughter 
Agnes  Birkbeck  five  shillings,  I  give  to  my  sonn  James  Birkbeck  five  shillings  if  he 
come  to  resave  it.  I  give  to  my  sonn  Willyam  Birkbeck  one  Cuthbert  (?  Cupboard) 
&  my  Tables  my  Chists  Bedsteads  and  Beds  and  all  the  rest  of  my  Goods 
moveable  and  immoveable  whatsoever,  I  give  it  to  my  sonn  Willyam  Birkbeck  all 
my  rents  due  at  Outhgill  owing  by  Thomas  Ward  to  discharge  my  Fuinerale 
Expends  and  do  make  my  sonn  Willyam  Birkbeck  my  wholle  Executor. 

Issabell  Birkbeck  (mark  x  and  seal). 

Witness  hear  of:  Briane  Hugginson,  Richard  Tunstall. 
Proved  at  Carlisle  13  October,  1670,  by  William  Birkbeck. 

She  was  buried  at  Kirkby  Stephen  20  September,  1670,  nine  days  after 
the  date  of  her  will,  and  left  two  sons  living  at  her  death,  viz.  : — 

William  (p.  83),  and  James,  who  is  mentioned  in  the  law  suit  brought 
by  William  Birkbeck  against  Wharton  (p.  80)  as  having  been  present  with 
Geoffrey  and  Henry  Birkbeck  "a  considerable  time  after  January  1648-9." 
His  mother's  legacy  to  him,  "  If  he  come  to  receive  It,"  looks  as  though  he 
were  absent  and  his  being  then  alive  uncertain.  The  will  of  James  Burbeck, 
Mariner,  belonging  to  H.M.S.  "Suffolk,"  abroad,  dated  21  June,  1690, 
and  proved  23  December,  1693,  might  possibly  be  his;  it  mentions  no 
relations.  An  entry  In  the  Kirkby  Stephen  Register  of  the  burial,  19  March, 
1722-3,  of  James  Birkbeck  of  Outhgill,  Mallerstang,  aged  56,  for  whom  I 
have  been  unable  to  account,  cannot  refer  to  Geoffrey's  son.     From  the  will 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF  WESTMORLAND.  83 

Geoffrey  Birkbeck  would  appear  also  to  have  had  three  married  daughters, 
who  probably  all  died  before  their  mother  :  Jane,  married  16  June,  1656, 
John  Fothergill  of  Deepgill,  who  was  buried  8  May,  1659,  having  had  a 
son  Geoffrey,  who  was  mentioned  in  the  above  will  and  was  living  at 
Deepgill  in  1672  with  his  uncle  William  Birkbeck.  The  two  other  daughters 
married  a  Whitfield  and  a  Nealson,  and  no  doubt  were  the  Helen  and 
Agnes  mentioned  in  their  grandfather's  will  (p.  77). 

WILLIAM    BIRKBECK  of  DeepgiU  (eldest  son  of  Geoffrey,  p.  81). 

In  a  "  Booke  of  ffynes  Receyved  for  Anne,  Countesse  Dowager  of 
Pembroke,  &c.,  by  George  Sedgwick,  Receivo',"  at  Appleby  Castle,  there  is 
an  undated  entry,  but  apparently  made  in  1658,  when  the  Countess  won  her 
suit  against  the  Mallerstang  tenants  : — 

Mallerstang. — William  Birkbeck  for  p*  of  a  Messuage  ^  Tenem'  w'=''  hee 
purchased  of  John  Birkbeck  of  the  antient  Rent  of  Tenne  shillings  1^  ten  pence 

ffynes  04  :  06  :  08. 
And  in  September,  1659, 

Mallerstange. — William  Birkbeck  for  certaine  parcells  of  ground  which 
he  purchased  of  Geoffrey  Birkbecke  ^  James  Birkbecke  of  y°  antient  yearly  rent  of 
three  shillings  ffynes  01  :  04  :  00. 

John  must  have  been  his  elder  brother,  mentioned  in  their  grandfather's 
will,  and  James  the  younger  brother  mentioned  in  their  mother's  will.  The 
fines  were  eight  years'  rent,  no  doubt  payable  on  the  Countess  regaining  her 
succession  to  the  Manor. 

He  was  returned  in  the  levy  of  Hearth  Tax  in  1670,*  and  is  mentioned 
as  at  Deepgill  in  a  manuscript  list  of  "  Yearly  wages  payable  to  the  Chappie 
of  Mallerstang,"  written  15  June,  1672,  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Moore,  the 
incumbent  of  the  chapel.  The  manuscript  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Miss  Fawcett,  the  owner  of  Deepgill.  In  1684  he  was  present  with 
his    son    Richard    at    a    boundary  riding    of   the    Manor    and    signed    the 

1   Lay  Subsidies,  195,  73,  22  Charles  II. 


84  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

memorandum.  The  facsimile  of  his  signature  is  traced  from  an  agreement 
at  Appleby  Castle,  dated  i6  May,  1695,  for  enclosing  certain  pastures  in 
Mallerstang. 


l^JUtt/mt^fi^^^r^ 


He  was  certainly  married  twice,  as  Captain  Grimshaw  has  an  undated 
manuscript  giving  a  list  of  "  those  persons  that  is  at  full  age  within  ye  fForest 
of  Mallerstange  which  is  lyable  to  pay  ye  powle  "  (poll  tax),  in  which  is  the 
entry  "  Willm.  Birkbeck.  his  wife  and  mother  and  his  maid  seruant  wages 
20s. — 2  shilhngs."  Now  his  mother  died  in  1670,  seven  years  before  his 
marriage  to  Isabell  Bell,  so  there  certainly  was  a  former  marriage.  I  have 
searched  every  register  in  Westmorland  and  in  the  neighbouring  parishes 
for  his  first  marriage,  but  it  probably  took  place  during  the  Commonwealth 
when  the  records  are  very  defective.  He  married  secondly  Isabell  Bell  of 
Hartley  21  May,  1677.  Hartley  is  a  hamlet  in  Kirkby  Stephen  parish  and 
two  miles  to  the  east  of  the  town.  I  could  not  find  any  entry  in  the 
register  of  her  baptism;  it  might  have  been  before  1647,  which  is  the 
earliest  entry.  The  baptisms  of  William  and  Mary,  children  of  Thomas 
Bell  of  Hartley,  are  recorded  in  1658  and  1660. 

Mr.  Joseph  Torbock  of  Middlesbrough,  the  owner  of  Outhgill  in 
Mallerstang,  sent  me  a  deed,  dated  21  October,  1707,  by  which  her  son 
John  Birkbeck  gave  in  exchange  for  other  neighbouring  property  "  ail  that 
his  dwelling  house  and  stables  with  the  garden  on  the  back  side,  now  being 
in  the  possession  of  Isabel  Birkbeck,  widow,  to  have  and  enjoy  the  said 
dwelling  house  and  stable  and  garth  after  the  decease  of  the  said  Isabel,  all 
being  situate  at  Shoregill  in  the  Manor  and  Lordship  of  Mallerstang." 
Shoregill  is  near  the  chapel  and  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  Deepgill 
House.     She  was  buried  at  Kirkby  Stephen  7  November,  1715. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  85 

William  Birkbeck's  will  was  as  follows  : — 

January  the  19'",  1697  [1697-8]. 

In  the  name  of  God  Amen.  I  William  Birkbe^k  of  Deepgill  in  the  fforest  of 
Mallerstange  in  the  p'ish  of  Kirkby  Stephen  &  County  of  Westmorland  yeoman 
being  at  this  p'^  somewhat  Infirm  &  out  of  bodily  health  but  capeable  of  under- 
standing 1^  of  sound  (^  p'fect  memory  (praised  be  God  for  the  same)  do  make 
(^  ordaine  this  my  last  will  <^  testam'  in  manner  &  form  following  viz'  Imp'  I 
desire  to  committ  my  souie  into  the  hands  of  Almighty  God  when  it  shall  please 
him  to  dissolve  my  earthly  Tabernacle,  hoping  that  through  the  merritts  of  Jesus 
Christ  my  Saviour  I  shall  obtain  Remission  of  my  Sins  1!^  everlasting  Bliss  in  that 
house  not  made  with  hands  but  eternal  in  the  Heavens,  ^  my  body  to  the  Grave  to 
be  buryed  in  Christian  Buriall  at  the  discretion  of  Executrix  hereafter  mentioned. 
As  for  such  temporall  goods  as  it  has  pleased  God  to  endow  me  with  It  is  my  will 
^  desire  to  dispose  of  them  as  herein  after  is  determined.  Item  I  doe  will  and 
Require  my  Sonne  Richard  Birkbecke  when  he  comes  to  enter  upon  1^  enjoy  half 
of  that  w'ch  I  doe  now  possess  that  is  the  Great  Holme  &  Holme  house  that  he 
shall  pay  into  my  Sonne  William  Birkbecke  the  summe  of  Tenne  pounds  And  allso 
to  William  Slorye  tenne  pounds  if  it  be  not  payd  to  him  at  or  before  my  decease, 
but  if  it  be  payd  then  ye  s'd  Richard  Birkbecke  shall  pay  the  said  summe  to  my 
Executrix  or  whom  I  shall  assigne  him  to  pay  it  and  when  the  said  Richard  shall 
enioyethe  other  moyetye  viz.  the  Litle  Ing  with  one  House  the  Litle  Holme  Load 
[Lord]  Burns  Close  <^  halfe  of  the  ffive  house  <^  halfe  of  the  waists  before  Doone 
[?  door]  &  halfe  of  the  Garden  that  he  shall  pay  to  his  Sister  Margarett  Milner  the 
sum'e  ffive  pounds  ^  also  to  his  Brother  William  Birkbecke  ffive  pounds  more  allso 
to  his  sister  ffrances  Birkbecke  ffive  pounds  <^  to  his  sister  Isabell  Shaw  five  pounds: 
&  if  in  the  Interim  any  of  the  said  summes  be  satisfyed  (S#  payd  that  then  the  said 
Richard  Birkbecke  shall  pay  the  said  Summes  where  I  shall  order  <^  assign  it  to  be 
paid.  Item  I  give  to  my  Sonne  Richard  Birkbecke  five  shillings  &'  one  great  Chest 
in  the  Loft  <^  one  table  in  the  Cowhouse  &'  one  Bedstead  in  the  Parlour.  Item  I 
give  to  my  Sonne  William  Birkbecke  five  shillings.  Item  I  give  to  my  Sonne  John 
Birkbecke  five  shil)ings.  Item  I  give  to  my  Daughter  Margarett  Millner  five 
shillings.  Item  I  give  to  my  daughter  Frances  Birkbecke  tenne  pounds  1^  ffive 
shillings.  Item  I  give  to  my  Daughter  Isabell  Shaw  five  shillings.  Item  I  give  to 
Richard  Birkbecke,  John  Birkbecke,  &  my  wife  Isabell  Birkbecke  all  my  husbandry 
geare  to  be  equally  divided  amongst  them. 

Post. — It  is  my  wish  <^  I  do  hereby  give  &  bequeath  all  the  Rest  of  my 
Goods  ^  Chattells  moveable  and  immoveable  unto  my  wife  Isabell  she  discharging 
all  my  debts  1^  funerall  expences  &"  that  the  said  Isabell  be  the  sole  Executrix  of 


86  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

this  my  last  will  <^  testam'.     Revokeing  all  former  wills  Wittness  hereof  I  have 
hereunto  sett  my  hand  &  seale  the  day  &  year  first  above  written. 

William  Birkbecke. 
Proved  i  March,  1698  (1698-9). 

The  reason  of  the  legacies  of  five  shillings  each  in  addition  to  the  other 

bequests  is  not  apparent. 

William  Birkbeck  was  buried  at  Kirkby  Stephen  12   August,   1698, 

having  had  issue  by  his  first  marriage  : — 
Richard  (vide  p.  87). 

Isabell,  baptized  at  Kirkby  Stephen  19  July,  1657,  and  mentioned  in 
the  wills  of  her  father  and  grandmother  ;  married  at  Kirkby 
Stephen,  26  April,  1696,  John  Shaw.  Several  Shaws  are 
mentioned  in  Mallerstang  during  the  seventeenth  century  : 
"John  Shaw,  sen'',  and  Agnes  Shaw  on  behalf  of  John  Shaw 
her  son,  an  infant,"  signed  the  agreement  of  16  May,  1695, 
mentioned  p.  84.  They  were  Nonconformists,  as  John  Shaw  and 
Agnes  his  wife  were  returned  to  Archbishop  Sheldon  in  1676 
among  those  in  Mallerstang  who  obstinately  refuse  or  wholly 
absent  themselves  from  the  Communion  at  such  times  as  by  law 
they  are  required.-*  The  will  of  her  grandmother  mentions  two 
granddaughters,  Isabel!  Birkbeck  the  elder  and  Isabell  Birkbeck 
the  younger.  There  is  only  one  entry  of  baptism  during  the 
grandmother's  life  (though  there  is  a  baptism  of  Isabell  by  the 
second  marriage).  I  cannot  say  whether  the  Isabell  who  married 
John  Shaw  was  the  elder  or  the  younger  by  the  first  marriage  ; 
the  one  by  the  second  marriage  would  have  been  only  1 5  years 
and  8  months  old,  so  no  doubt  it  was  one  of  the  daughters  of 
the  first  wife.  It  was  not  unusual  to  call  two  children  by  the  same 
name  ;  the  probability  was  that  both  would  not  hve  to  grow  up, 

1  "  History  of  Mallerstang''  (Rev.  W.  Nicholls),  p.  39. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  87 

Agnes,  baptized  at  Kirkby  Stephen  4  December,  1666  ;   married  at 
Kirkby  Stephen,  31   January,    1688-9,   Stephen    Todd.      Not 
mentioned  in  her  father's  will,  but  she  was  mentioned  in  that  of 
her  grandmother.     She  was  buried  8  July,  1699. 
By  his  second  marriage  William  Birkbeck  had  issue  : — 
John  (p.  90),  twin  with  Frances. 
William  (p.  95). 

Frances,  baptized  at  Kirkby  Stephen  14  March,  1677-8,  a  twin  with 
John,  mentioned  in  her  father's  will.  If  the  entry  in  the  Kirkby 
Stephen  Register  of  the  marriage,  14  June,  1742,  of  Anthony 
Fothergill  and  Frances  Birkbeck  of  Mallerstang  refers  to  her,  she 
was  then  64  years  old. 
Isabell,  baptized  at  Kirkby  Stephen  3  August,  1680,  probably  died 

before  1698,  not  being  mentioned  in  her  father's  will. 
Agnes,  baptized  3  August,  1684  ;  buried  28  January,  1684-5. 
Margaret  may  have  been  by  either  marriage,  there  being  no  entry  of 
her  baptism  in  the  Register,  but  not  being  mentioned  in  the  will 
of  her  grandmother  it  is  probable  she  was  born  after   1670. 
She  married  at  Kirkby  Stephen,  10  November,  1696,  Christopher 
Milner,  and  was  mentioned  in  her  father's  will. 
RICHARD  BIRKBECK,  eldest  son  of  William  (p.  83),  baptized  at 
Kirkby  Stephen  18  October,  1663.     Heir  under  his  father's  wiU  to  all  his 
land  in  two  moieties,  "when  he  shall  enjoy  the  other  moiety,"  probably 
indicating  that  his  mother  had  a  life  interest  in  it. 

There  are  several  references  to  him  in  the  Manor  Rolls  at  Appleby  Castle. 
He  was  present  with  his  father  at  the  boundary  riding  of  the  Manor  in  1684 
and  signed  the  record,  from  which  the  facsimile  of  his  signature  is  taken, 


88  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

but  he  was  not  present  at  the  boundary  riding  in  1 704.  In  October,  1 698,  he 
paid  the  fines  on  the  death  of  his  father,  viz.,  1,6  15s.  5d.  and  3s.  3d.,  being 
thirteen  years'  rental  at  los.  5d.  and  3d.  In  1702  and  1703  further  small 
fines  were  paid,  which  may  have  been  on  purchases,  as  they  were  calculated 
on  sixteen  years'  rental,  and  in  1704  and  1708  "  dropping  fines"  were  paid, 
probably  on  purchases.  In  October,  1712,  there  is  an  entry,  "  Mallerstange. 
Eliz.  Wife  of  Richard  Birkbeclc,  rent  00  .  13  .  08  ;  fine  09  .  1 1  .  04."  This 
may  have  been  the  fine  payable  for  a  settlement  of  the  land  on  his  second 
marriage.  The  following  entry  appears  in  a  later  but  undated  Rental 
Book  :  "  Hassal,  Lady,  late  Birkbeck,  Richard,  a  close  of  land  with  a  barn 
upion  it  at  Deepgill,  3'',  a  dwelling  house  and  garden,  a  close  called  Waistes, 
New  Close  &  the  old  House  and  stead,  3',  a  Messuage  (^  Tenem'  in 
Mallerstang  10'  5'^,"  the  total  amount,  13s.  8d.,  being  the  same  rent  as  that 
of  1 7 12,  and  the  items  agreeing  with  the  rent  on  his  inheritance  at  his 
father's  death  with  the  addition  of  one  of  the  1702  purchases. 

From  the  entries  in  the  Register  he  appears  to  have  been  living  at 
Penrith  from  1699  to  1707,  and  to  have  been  engaged  in  the  wool  trade,  as 
in  the  entry  of  the  burial  of  his  first  wife  he  is  described  as  a  "  Woolman." 
Apparently  he  was  living  1720,  as  in  a  manuscript  in  the  writing  of  the  late 
Major  R.  S.  Birkbeck,  containing  extracts  of  family  letters  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  headed  Letters  from  .  .  .  .  to  .  .  .  .,  is  "  To  William  Birkbeck, 
Settle,  from  his  loving  brother  Richard  Birkbeck,  Oct.  25"",  1720."  I 
regret  that  the  original  letter  cannot  be  found,  as  it  is  possible  both  brothers 
belonged  to  the  next  generation,  but  if  so,  the  writer  would  have  been  only 
nine  years  old.  There  are  other  letters  copied  on  the  same  papers,  the 
writers  of  which  I  cannot  identify,  one  dated  Penrith,  5  June,  1728, 
addressed  to  Mr.  William  Birkbeck,  Settle,  beginning  "Loving  Uncle,"  and 
ending  "  Your  loving  nephew  Daniel  Ireland." 

A  pedigree  drawn  by  Major  Birkbeck  has  Daniel  Ireland  of  Penrith  as 
having  married  Jane,  daughter  of  Richard  Birkbeck,  and  the  baptism  at  Penrith 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  89 

of  three  children  of  Daniel  Ireland,  William,  Jane,  and  Ruth,  being  the 
names  of  three  of  Richard  Birkbeck's  children,  certainly  looks  like  it, 
but  I  have  not  found  the  entry  of  the  marriage.  There  are  also  two 
letters  from  Ensign  George  Willan  to  his  cousin  W^illiam  Birkbeck,  junior, 
dated  1734  and  1739.  I  found  among  the  Richmond  Archdeaconry 
marriage  bonds  a  licence  for  the  marriage  of  Richard  Willan  of  Cawtley, 
parish  of  Sedbergh,  to  Ellen  Birkbeck,  dated  April,  1693.  I  cannot 
identify  her,  but  there  were  Willans  at  Winton  in  Kirkby  Stephen  parish 
at  that  time. 

A  deed-box  at  Settle,  which  belonged  to  William  Birkbeck  who  died 
1838,  contains  a  quantity  of  family  letters,  memoranda,  and  diaries,  the 
earlier  ones  being  written  in  French.  A  letter  dated  6th  5mo.,  1784, 
addressed  to  William  Birkbeck  (born  1745,  died  1805),  and  signed  "Thy 
afF.  kinsman  James  Metcalfe,"  mentions  "  an  estate  of  land  at  Sycamore 
Tree  in  Mallerstang  which  belonged  to  Uncle  Richard  at  Penrith."  He 
thinks  it  was  mortgaged  for  £2-°'  ^"'^  "  ^^  Uncle  Richard  died  suddenly 
it  was  never  redeemed,"  but  if  any  of  the  family  be  desirous,  it  might  be 
had,  the  principal  being  paid.  In  a  subsequent  letter  from  the  same  writer, 
signed  "  Thy  aff.  cousin,"  he  has  ascertained  that  the  encumbrance  is  much 
larger  than  he  thought.  He  cannot  ascertain  how  long  since  it  was  mortgaged, 
and  "  as  far  as  he  can  understand  by  Margery  Horner,  Uncle  Richard  died 
when  she  was  at  Setde."  He  would  appear  to  have  been  living  in  1722' 
from  the  entry  in  the  register  of  the  burial  of  the  second  wife  as  "  wife  of 
Richard  Birkbeck."  This  would  probably  have  been  entered  as  "  late  wife  " 
had  he  been  deceased. 

He  married  at  Kirkby  Stephen,  25  February,  1687-8,  Ruth  W^aller  of 
Mallerstang,  who  was  buried  at  Penrith  15  March,  1706-7,  and  had  issue 
one  son  and  three  daughters  : — 

William,    baptized    at    Penrith    2    March,    1698-9;    buried    there 
23  March,  1698-9.     Buried  in  woollen. 


90  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

Jane,  baptized  at  Kirkby  Stephen  20  December,    1694  ;    possibly 

married  Daniel  Ireland  (p.  88). 
Ruth,  baptized  at  Kirkby  Stephen  18  December,  1696  ;  buried  there 

8  March,  1697-8. 
Sarah,  baptized  at  Penrith   13  July,  1702  ;  buried  there  i  January, 

1702-3. 
Anne,  baptized  at  Penrith  30  March,  1 704  ;  perhaps  buried  there 
II    April,   1 7 13.     The   latter   entry   is    "  dau.   of  Richard   1^ 
Elizabeth,"  but  there  is  no  entry  of  the  birth  of  another  Anne 
by  the  second  marriage. 
The  above  "  burial  in  woollen  "  was  the  last  entry  of  this  nature  at 
Penrith.     During  the  reign   of  Charles  II.  so  powerful  were  the  woollen 
interests  that  two  Acts  (18-19  '^"d  30  Chas.  II.)  were  passed,  directing  that 
every  one,  rich  or  poor,  should  be  buried  in  woollen  shrouds  only,  and  an 
affidavit  taken  that  no  linen,  silk,  or  other  material   had   been  used.     The 
Friends  were  lined  because   they  were  unable   to  swear   to   the   affidavits, 
although  they  had  used  the  woollen  materials.     The   Acts   were   repealed 
about  1698.     In  Scotland  the  law  was  exactly  the  reverse,  an  Act  having 
been  passed  in  1686  prescribing  burial  in  Scotch  Hnen  only. 

Richard  Birkbeck  apparently  married  secondly  Elizabeth  .  .  .  .,  but  I 
have  no  other  record  of  the  marriage  except  the  fine  paid  in  17 12  (p.  88) 
and  the  baptism  of  their  son.  She  was  buried  at  Penrith  31  March,  1722, 
having  had  one  son  Richard,  baptized  at  Penrith  22  May,  1711. 

JOHN  BIRKBECK,  second  son  of  William  (p.  87),  baptized  at 
Kirkby  Stephen  14  March,  1677-8,  was  left  by  his  father's  will  one-third  of  his 
husbandry  gear,  so  he  was  presumably  to  carry  on  the  farms  with  his  elder 
brother.  He  married,  22  June,  1701,  at  St.  Lawrence,  Appleby,  Mary, 
daughter  of  Robert  Jackson  of  Soulby  in  the  parish  of  Kirkby  Stephen 
(marriage  licence  dated  2  June).  He  was  present  at  a  boundary  riding  of 
Mallerstang  Manor  in   1 704,  and  signed  the  memorandum.     From  sundry 


THE   BIRKBECKS  OF   WESTMORLAND.  91 

deeds  and  manuscripts  sent  me  by  Mr.  Joseph  Torbock,  the  owner  of 
Outhgill,  Mallerstang,  it  appears  that  from  1707,  when  he  was  described  as 
of  Shoregill,  Mallerstang,  till  17 14,  he  bought  several  small  estates  at 
Angerholm,  Parracks,  and  Hazelgill,  all  close  to  Deepgill. 

In  the  Appleby  Castle  rental  books  there  are  many  entries  of  fines  paid 
by  John  Birkbeck.  In  the  first  case  in  1698  the  fine  was  ;^i  19s.  on 
3s,  per  annum  ;  and  from  the  fine  being  only  eleven  years'  rental,  while  later 
ones  were  fifteen  and  sixteen  years',  this  may  have  been  paid  on  his  father's 
death  for  the  "parcels  of  ground"  which  the  latter  purchased  in  1659 
(ride  p.  83),  being  the  same  rental,  and  Richard  only  paid  in  1698  on  the  older 
inheritance  at  los.  8d.  rental.  He  seems  to  have  bought  the  other  land  back 
from  John  four  years  later,  and  then  paid  sixteen  years'  rental  ;  probably 
John  wanted  money  in  order  to  purchase  other  land  in  Mallerstang,  as  the 
same  year  he  paid  j^n  7S-  4d.,  being  sixteen  years'  fine  on  14s.  2^d.  per 
annum.     There  are  several  other  fines  on  purchases  down  to  the  year  171 2. 

In  1 7 14  he  was  living  at  Westend,  Hellbeck  in  Aysgarth,  a  parish  in 
Yorkshire  adjoining  Mallerstang,  and  was  selling  his  Mallerstang  properties  ; 
but  in  January,  171 5,  the  entry  of  the  baptism  of  his  second  son  in  the 
Kirkby  Stephen  Register  describes  him  as  of  Angerholme,  although  he  had 
sold  it  two  years  previously  for  ;^56o.  In  1738  he  was  a  mercer  in 
London,  and  described  in  the  administration  of  his  son  John^  as  of  the  parish 
of  St.  Mary-at-Hill,  and  was  not  a  Quaker,  as  he  had  been  duly  sworn. 
At  Setde  there  are  a  series  of  letters  from  him  to  his  nephew  William, 
dated  from  18  July,  1738,  to  30  August,  1740,  chiefly  relating  to  sending 
silk  materials,  etc.,  to  Settle,  and  purchasing  woollen  goods  from  Settle.  He 
was  carrying  on  business  on  his  own  account,  and  often  complaining  of  the 
badness  of  trade.  One  of  the  letters,  dated  21  October,  1738,  says,  "  My 
son  John  was  taken  very  ill  70  miles  out  of  town,  and  I  was  obliged  to  go 
to  him,  and  he  departed  this  life  the  next  day  after  I  was  with  him,  and  my 

*  Probate  Court,  Somerset  House. 

N    2 


92  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

son  Jeffrey  is  at  the  point  of  death  ;  it  will  be  a  great  trouble  to  me,  but  I 
hope  I  shall  gett  it  over  in  a  little  time."  And  in  another  letter,  after  the 
death  of  his  nephew's  wife,  he  writes  to  him,  "  I  am  very  sorry  for  your 
loss,  but  wee  must  submitt  to  the  will  of  God,"  and  then  goes  on  about 
buying  stockings  from  Settle;  but  trade  is  very  bad,  and  "pray  do  not  draw 
soon  for  money."  A  letter  dated  15  November,  1739,  mentions  his  wife 
as  living.  There  is  no  entry  relating  to  him  or  his  family  in  the  St.  Mary- 
at-Hili  Parish  Register.  The  last  mention  I  have  found  of  him  is  in  a  suit 
of  the  Earl  of  Thanet,  27  November,  1742,  when  he  is  scheduled  as  still 
being  a  tenant  of  the  Manor  of  Mallerstang  ;^  but  he  may  have  been  living 
in  London. 

John  Blrkbeck  had  issue  two  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 

John,  buried  at  St.  John  the  Baptist,  Peterborough,  28   September, 
1738.       Administration    of    his    goods,    chattels,    and    credits 
granted  to  his  father. 
Jeffrey,  baptized  at  KIrkby  Stephen  20  January,  1714-5;  "at   the 

point  of  death  "  21  October,  1738. 
Isabel,  baptized  at  Kirkby  Stephen  17  May,  1702. 


Chancery  Decree,  Roll  No.  1827. 


(     93     ) 


BIRK  BECKS    OF    SETTLE. 


As  will  be  seen,  William  Birkbeck,  who  left  the  home  of  his  parents  in 
Mallerstang,  and  went  to  Settle,  became  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 
George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society,  was  well  known  in  the  district, 
having  come  to  Westmorland  as  early  as  1652.  He  soon  had  many 
followers  there,  especially  at  Kendal,  Orton,  and  Ravenstonedale.  George 
Whitehead,  who  was  born  at  Orton  about  the  year  1635,  was  perhaps  the 
most  famous  of  the  early  Quaker  missionaries,  and  from  1652  to  1672  his 
life  was  a  series  of  persecutions  and  imprisonments.  He  lived  to  enjoy 
the  favour  of  James  II.,  William  III.,  and  George  I.  The  effect  of  George 
Fox's  preaching  was  very  great,  and  strengthened  as  it  was  by  persecution, 
Quakerism  became  deeply  rooted  in  the  county.  We  cannot  wonder  that 
George  Fox  made  so  many  converts  in  Westmorland,  when  (to  quote  an  article 
in  the  "  Quarterly  Review")  the  poorly  endowed  parishes  were  not  provided 
with  such  ministry  of  the  Gospel  as  could  command  general  respect.  Once 
it  would  not  have  been  thought  at  all  unnatural  to  say  of  a  graceless 
character,  "  He  keeps  vara  bad  company,  t'parson  and  sich."' 

There  were  Friends  in  Mallerstang  early  in  Quaker  history,  as  in  the 
return  made  in  1676  to  Archbishop  Sheldon  of  Nonconformists  in  Maller- 
stang, already  mentioned  (p.  86),  there  are  the  names  of  some  whose 
marriage  or  death  appear  in  the   Friends'  Registers.      The  first  Friends' 

*  "Quarterly  Review,"  April,  1867,  p.  380. 


94  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

Meeting-house  in  England  was  built  in  1688  by  George  Fox  at  Swarthmoor, 
near  Ulverston,  and  still  contains  his  folio  Bible,  with  the  chain  by  which  it 
was  formerly  attached  to  the  minister's  gallery.  Over  the  porch  is  the 
inscription,  "Ex  dono  G.  F.  1688."  But  before  that  date  there  was  a 
regular  "  Monthly  Meeting  "  at  Ravenstonedale,  which  is  only  five  miles 
across  Wild  Boar  Fell  from  Deepgill,  the  registers  of  which  contain  names 
well  known  in  Mallerstang.  The  first  entry  I  copied  was  "  1663,  3  mo.  3. 
Mar'^  Edmund  Shaw  &  Margaret  Fawcett."  Both  families  lived  in  houses 
on  the  Deepgill  estate,  and  a  Shaw  married  a  sister  of  William  Birkbeck 
(p.  86).  The  ancient  Ravenstonedale  Meeting-house  is  now  a  barn,  with 
the  sadly  neglected  burial-ground  adjoining. 

There  were  formerly  some  peculiar  privileges  attached  to  the  parish  of 
Ravenstonedale  :  a  court  of  probate,  right  of  sanctuary,  and  felons  could 
not  be  taken  out  of  the  parish  by  the  sheriff,  but  were  tried  by  a  court  of 
the  tenants  of  the  manor. 

At  Sedbergh,  eight  miles  further  south,  there  was  also  a  meeting, 
where  Richard  Armitstead  of  Settle,  and  Jane  Shaw,  the  parents  of  William 
Birkbeck's  wife,  were  married  10  March,  1 680-1. 

The  following  remarks  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hodgkin,  in  his  "  Life  of  George 
Fox,"  afford  some  explanation  of  the  very  little  assistance  I  have  had  from 
family  records  in  tracing  the  early  history  of  our  ancestors,  but  I  fear  the 
eighteenth  century  will  be  found  to  possess  less  interest  than  the  time  before 
they  migrated  to  Settle  : — 

Another  point  which  may  be  noticed  in  this  narrative  of  Fox's  early  years  is 
his  extraordinary  silence  as  to  those  who  were  most  nearly  connected  with  him  by 
blood.  After  the  opening  sentences  in  the  journal,  we  have  nothing  more  about 
his  parents  ;  and  the  relations  alluded  to  are  mere  shadowy  forms  to  us,  even  the 
degree  of  the  relationship  to  the  writer  not  being  stated.  Something  like  this 
appears  to  have  been  the  mood  of  mind  in  which  most  of  the  early  Friends  looked 
upon  their  old  homes,  and  on  those  who  had  once  inhabited  them.  They  have 
themselves  passed  through  the  Red  Sea,  and  care  not  to  ask  or  to  tell  of  what  may 
have  happened  in  the  land  of  Egypt.     Thus  it  conies  to  pass  that  with  very  few 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


95 


exceptions  the  pedigrees  of  modern  Quaker  families  go  back  to  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  there  stop.  There  is  generally  full  and  precise  informa- 
tion up  to  the  first  member  of  the  family,  who  was  a  Quaker,  and  beyond  that  all 
is  a  blank. 

WILLIAM  BIRKBECK  of  Settle,  son  of  William  Birkbeck  of 
Deepgill  (p.  87),  was  most  probably  by  the  second  marriage,  but  there  is 
no  entry  at  Kirkby  Stephen  of  his  baptism,  most  likely  owing  to  the 
numerous  gaps  in  the  register.  It  appears  to  have  been  very  irregularly  kept 
at  the  probable  time  of  his  birth.  Several  entries  of  the  years  1680  and 
168 1  are  interpolated  after  1655,  with  the  following  note:  "  Al  these 
misplaced  ffor  want  of  Bringing  in  to  the  Clarke  in  due  time,  sett  downe 
Heare  being  a  vacant  place  by  a  frind  to  the  Regest''  and  att  p'sent  parish 
Clarke  Jeoffi-ey  Thompson  :  Omited  by  John  Bilbow  former  Clarke  as  may 
Appeare  by  Hes  writing.  Written  the  S""  day  of  November  1684."  And 
immediately  after  October  1681,  and  headed,  "  Mallerstang  as  follows,"  are 
several  entries  with  inconsecutive  dates,  1680  being  placed  after  1684 — from 
the  heading  it  would  appear  that  they  were  Mallerstang  entries — one  of 
these  was  the  baptism  of  Isabell  Birkbeck,  3  August,  1680. 

Family  tradition  speaks  of  Isabel  as  his  mother  ;  if  so,  he  was  her 
second  son,  and  if  he  were  born  in  1679,  after  the  twins  John  and  Frances, 
and  before  Isabell,  he  would  have  been  72  at  his  death.  It  is  possible  that 
his  parents  had  come  under  Quaker  influence,  and  that  neither  William  nor 
Margaret  were  baptized  at  all  ;  and  his  father's  will,  directing  his  "  Christian 
burial  at  the  discretion  of  his  executrix,"  instead  of  the  common  direction  of 
burial  In  his  parish  churchyard,  looks  rather  like  it  ;  however,  he  was 
buried  at  Kirkby  Stephen  Church. 

He  was  left  by  his  father's  will  ^^15  5s.,  at  the  then  value  of 
money  a  considerable  sum  for  a  yeoman  to  leave  to  a  younger  son,  the 
elder  sons  having  only  received  fs.  in  cash.  It  would  look  as  though 
William    were  already  engaged  in  business,  where  the  money  would  be  of 


96  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

greater  advantage  to  him  ;  and  a  family  tradition  that  he  was  disinherited 
for  turning  Quaker  is  certainly  not  borne  out. 

He  established  himself  in  business  at  Settle,  and  was  there  as  early  as 
12  June,  1698,  where  his  name  appears  as  a  witness  to  the  marriage  of  John 
Armitstead  at  the  Friends'  Meeting,  so  probably  he  had  been  converted  before 
that  date.  He  soon  received  the  confidence  of  the  Friends,  as  in  February, 
1 701  (12  mo.  1700,  O.S.),  he  was  Registrar  to  the  Monthly  Meeting, 
and  may  have  been  so  previously,  as  the  minute-book  of  Settle  Monthly 
Meeting,  which  contains  many  references  to  his  name,  only  commences  at 
that  date.  He  was  annually  reappointed  Registrar  for  over  thirty  years. 
One  minute  in  October,  1703,  tells  of  his  engagement  :  "  This  day  William 
Birkbeck  did  signifie  to  us  here  that  he  didd  intend  to  lay  before  our  Mo. 
Mtg.  his  intention  of  Marriage  w"'  Sarah  Armistead.  This  Meeting 
considering  of  and  nothing  appearing  to  obstruct  ye  same,  leaves  them  to 
proceed  according  to  intentions."  In  October,  1 704,  "George  Foxe's 
Journal  is  in  W.  Birkbeck's  hands  this  month."  i  March,  1705,  he  is 
"  desired  to  accompany  Travelling  friends  on  y''  Journey  this  month  if 
occasion  be,"  and  he  continued  to  give  his  assistance  in  these  missionary 
labours  for  thirty  years.  In  1729  he  is  appointed  "  to  take  care  to  get  this 
Meeting-house  made  more  commodious  and  warm  according  as  is  proposed," 
but  in  spite  of  his  improvements  the  Meeting-house  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  very  comfortable,  as  in  1732  he  was  "  appointed  to  get  some  of  ye  most 
necessary  places  in  ye  Roofe  of  ye  Meeting-house  stopt  with  moss  and  other 
things  he  thinks  proper  to  be  done  in  order  to  Repair  it  and  also  to  see  if  any 
thing  can  be  done  to  prevent  it  Raining  into  the  Stable  " — a  stable  was  a 
necessary  adjunct  to  the  Meeting-house,  as  some  of  the  Friends  would  have 
had  long  distances  to  ride  to  their  worship.  In  the  yearly  accounts  of  "  yf 
collections  made  within  Setle  Meetting  for  y"  Relief  of  poor  fr'^s  in  y"  year 
....  as  fFolloweth,"  commencing  1702,  his  subscription  appears  regu- 
larly  every   month.     The   minutes    contain  many   entries   of  distraint   for 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  97 

non-payment  of  Easter  offerings,  tithes,  and  militia  assessments,  in  which 
the  Birkbecks  regularly  figure.  The  amounts  were  trifling,  but  were 
run  up  by  costs,  e.g.,  in  1723  and  the  following  year  53  lbs.  of  cheese 
were  seized  from  William  Birkbeck  to  satisfy  Easter  dues,  amounting  to 
one  shilling  and  eightpence. 

A  manuscript  in  the  writing  of  my  father,  Henry  Birkbeck  of  Keswick, 
states  that  William  Birkbeck,  his  great-grandfather,  came  to  Settle  from 
Deepgill  about  the  year  1680  or  1690,  and  in  17 16  built  a  house  then 
standing  in  a  street  near  the  Bank,  over  the  door  of  which  were  the  letters 
W.  S.  B.  ;  but  from  a  Chancery  suit  in  1730  relating  to  William  Birkbeck's 
house  in  Settle,  it  appears  that  it  was  built  about  the  year  168  i,  and  some 
time  after  17 14  he  bought  the  remainder  of  the  lease  of  3000  years,  which 
commenced  1681  ;^  probably  he  enlarged  the  house  in  1716.  The 
facsimile  of  his  signature  is  taken  from  his  answer  to  the  suit. 


.^^/^  p^/^ 


If  this  date  of  his  going  to  Settle  is  correct,  he  must  have  been  by  his 
father's  first  marriage,  but  in  that  case  he  would  have  been  a  very  old  man 
when  he  died. 

The  business  which  he  carried  on  at  Settle  as  a  woollen  and  general 
merchant  was  very  successful,  and  later  on,  to  an  extensive  trade  in  wool- 
stapling  was  added  the  taking  money  on  deposit,  making  loans,  and  the 
sale  of  bills  on  London,  which  gradually  grew  into  a  banking  business. 
His  description  at  his  marriage  in  the  Friends'  Register  was  "  Glover  and 
Fellmonger." 

In  1745  he  (or  possibly  one  of  his  sons)  appears  to  have  warned  the 
Lord  Mayor  of  York  of  the  arrival  of  Charles  Edward  and  the  Highlanders 
at  Kendal.  Dr.  Burton  says,  "Upon  my  being  seen,  although  a  prisoner 
^  Chancery  Proceedings,  1714 — 1758,  Zincke,  No.  iSjz. 


98  THE  BIRKBECKS   OF  WESTMORLAND. 

with  the  Highlanders,  a  Quaker,  one  B — rb — k  of  Settle,  who  abounded 
more  with  the  evil  spirit  and  malice  than  with  meekness  and  truth,  sent  the 
news  express  to  York."'  The  imprisonment  would  seem  to  have  been  only 
a  colourable  one,  as  Dr.  Burton  was  a  strong  Jacobite. 

He  married  at  the  Friends'  Meeting-house  at  Settle  1 1  November, 
1703,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Richard  Armitstead,  late  of  Settle.  In  the 
list  of  those  present  at  the  marriage  there  Is  no  Birkbeck  name  ;  possibly 
only  members  of  the  Society  signed  as  "  Testes."  She  was  born  17  June, 
1684,  and  died  7  April,  1747,  buried  at  Settle.  Her  family  was  an  old  one 
at  Settle,  as  Laurencius  del  Armetsted,  freeman,  paid  3s.  4d.  poll  tax  at 
Giggleswick  (Settle)  2  Richard  II.  They  were  early  converts  to  Quakerism. 
A  report  of  the  Settle  monthly  meeting  gives  an  account  of  John  Armitstead, 
then  living,  who,  when  a  young  man,  in  1652  or  1653  took  pity  on  William 
Dewsbury  and  invited  him  to  his  mother's  house  after  he  had  been  pulled 
down  and  beaten  for  standing  on  the  Cross  and  preaching  on  a  market  day. 

William  Birkbeck's  wilP  was  dated  23  June,  1 749.  He  died  2  October, 
1 75 1,  and  was  buried  at  Settle,  having  had  issue  three  sons  and  two 
daughters  : — 

1.  William  {tide  hifrci). 

2.  Richard,  born  29  September,  171 1  ;  died  9  June,  1727. 

3.  John  (p.  116). 

1.  Jane,    born    3    September,     1709;     married    Josiah    Forster    of 

Tottenham;    died    i   January,    1763.      The   late  Right   Hon. 
W.  E.  Forster,  M.P.,  was  her  great-grandson. 

2.  Sarah,  born  2  February,  1721  ;  died  19  December,  1728. 
WILLIAM  BIRKBECK  of  Settle,  eldest  son  of  WiUiam  {vide  supra), 

born  at  Settle  31  August,  1705,  inherited  under  his  father's  will  all  his  lands 
and  houses.     He  was  brought  up  in  the  way  in  which  he  should  go,  for 

1  "British  Liberty  Endangered"  (John  Burton,  M.D.,  York),  p.  28. 
-  York  Probate. 


THE  BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  99 

his  name  when  he  was  17  appears  as  having  given  is.  6d.  towards  the 
collection  for  the  relief  of  poor  Friends,  and  also  constantly  figures  among 
the  distraints  for  non-payment  of  tithes  and  militia  assessments. 

He   continued   the   business    which    his    father    had    established.     He 
married  first  Sarah,  third  daughter  of  Richard  Morris  of  Rugeley,  surgeon  ; 
she  was  born  30  October,  1706  ;  married  at  Stafford  5  May,  1730  ;  died  at 
Cockermouth  2  May,  1 740,  having  had  one  son  and  three  daughters  : — 
I.   Morris,  born  4  November,  1734  (p.  loi). 

1.  Prescilla,  born  15  April,  1731  ;  died  22  December,  1733. 

2.  Sarah,  born  16  February,  1733  ;  married,  3  May,  1764,  John  Fell 

of  Ulverston. 

3.  Esther,  born  22  August,  1737  ;  died  5  July,  1741. 

The  following  remarkable  story  of  her  death-bed  I  have  condensed  from 
an  account  (in  the  "  Haunted  Homes  of  Great  Britain,"  by  J.  H.  Ingrave) 
written  by  the  late  Mrs.  Charles  Fox  of  Trebah,  near  Falmouth, 
supplemented  by  Mrs.  Fox's  notes,  sent  me  by  her  daughter  Mrs.  Edmund 
Backhouse  : — Sarah  Birkbeck  had  been  in  Scotland  with  a  committee  of 
Friends  on  a  religious  visit,  and  on  their  way  back  to  Yorkshire  she  was 
seized  with  illness  at  Cockermouth.  She  had  three  weeks  before  left  her  three 
children  at  Settle  with  their  father,  under  the  care  of  a  cousin,  Mrs.  Fairbank  ; 
the  latter  promised  to  keep  a  journal  of  all  that  concerned  the  children 
during  their  mother's  absence,  the  post  in  those  days  being  both  uncertain 
and  costly.  The  illness  was  so  sudden  that  she  died  before  her  husband 
even  heard  that  she  was  ill,  and  the  Friends  at  Cockermouth  with  whom 
she  was  staying,  seeing  the  hopeless  nature  of  the  attack,  also  kept  notes  of 
her  last  hours  for  the  satisfaction  of  her  family.  One  morning,  between 
seven  and  eight  o'clock,  on  Mrs.  Fairbank  going  into  the  children's  room  at 
Settle,  she  found  them  all  sitting  up  in  their  beds  in  a  state  of  great 
excitement  and  delight,  crying  out,  "  Mamma  has  been  here ;"  and  the 
youngest  child  said,  "  She  called  '  Come,  Esther.'"     Nothing  could  persuade 


loo  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

them  that  they  were  mistaken,  and  the  occurrence  was  carefully  noted  down 
to  entertain  the  mother  on  her  return.  That  same  morning,  as  Sarah 
Birkbeck  lay  dying  on  her  bed  at  Cockermouth,  she  said,  •'  I  should  be  ready 
to  go  if  I  could  but  see  my  children."  She  closed  her  eyes,  it  was  thought 
to  open  them  no  more,  but  after  ten  minutes  of  perfect  stillness  she  looked 
up  brightly,  saying,  "  I  am  ready  now,  I  have  been  with  my  children,"  and 
then  passed  peacefully  away.  When  the  notes  taken  at  the  two  places 
were  compared,  the  day,  hour,  and  minute  were  the  same. 
In  Mrs.  Fox's  notes  she  wrote  ; — 

One  of  the  cliiklrcu,  Sarah,  was  my  grandmother,  afterwards  wife  of  Dr.  Fell  of 
Ul version,  from  whom  I  had  the  above  account  almost  literally  as  I  have  repeated  it. 
The  elder  one  was  Morris  Birkbeck.  Both  lived  to  old  age,  and  retained  to  the  last 
so  solemn  and  reverential  a  remembrance  of  tlie  circumstance  that  they  would 
rarely  speak  of  it  or  permit  any  allusion  to  it,  lest  it  shoidd  be  treated  with  doubt  or 
levity.  Esther,  the  youngest  child,  died  soon  after  (5  July,  1741).  Her  hi-other  and 
sister  onlv  heard  the  child  say  that  her  mother  had  called  her,  but  could  not  speak 
with  any  certainty  of  having  themselves  heard  the  words,  nor  did  they  seem  sensible 
of  any  connnunication  from  her,  but  simply  of  ber  standing  there  and  looking 
at  them. 

My  grandmother  and  her  brother  were  both  persons  remarkable  for  strong 
matter-of-fact  rather  than  imaginative  minds,  to  whom  it  was  especially  difficult  to 
accept  any  thing  on  faith  or  merely  hearsay  evidence,  and  who  by  nature  would  be 
disposed  to  reject  w  hatever  seemed  beyond  the  region  of  common  e.x]ierience. 

William  Birkbeck  married  secondly  at  Kendal,  2  May,  1744,  Deborah, 
third  daughter  of  John  and  Deborah  Wilson  of  Kendal,  who  survived  him 
and  died  14  May,  1781,  having  had  seven  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 

1.  William,  born  18  December,  1745  (p.  106). 

2.  John,  born  9  October,  1747  (p.  i  10). 

3.  Thomas,  born  7  March,  1749  ;  died  21  March,  1752. 

4.  Richard,  born  26  February,  1751  ;  died  3  September,  1771. 

5.  James,  born  8  May,  1752  ;  died  14  January,  1753. 

6.  Thomas,  born  8  September,  1753  ",  died  11  August,  1759. 
7,.  James,  born  29  September,  1755  ;  '^'^^^  ^  April,  1763. 


MORRIS    BIRKBECK     AND     HIS    WIFE. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  loi 

I.  Deborah,  born  9  December,  1756  ;  died  unmarried;  buried  at 
Plymouth  15  February,  1821. 

William  Birkbeck  died  15  September,  1772,  and  was  buried  at  Settle. 

MORRIS  BIRKBECK  of  Wanborough,  Surrey,  eldest  son  of  William 
and  Sarah  (p.  99),  born  at  Settle  4  November,  1734.  He  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  in  the  Settle  business,  but  from  a  letter  in  the  box  of  papers  at 
Settle  before-mentioned,  he  would  seem  in  1784  to  have  been  engaged  in 
an  insurance  business  in  London,  Birkbeck  and  Blakes.  I  do  not  know 
when  he  left  Settle,  but  on  his  second  marriage  he  is  described  in  the 
Friends'  Register  as  "late  of  Settle."  In  1773  he  was  in  America 
inspecting  an  estate  of  1280  acres  near  New  Garden  in  North  Carolina, 
which  he  purchased,  but  he  returned  to  England  in  1774,  and  later  on  settled 
at  Wanborough,  near  Guildford.  He  married  first,  9  July,  1762,  at  Wray, 
Lancashire,  Hannah  Bradford  of  Lancaster;  she  died  27  January,  1764, 
buried  at  Settle,  leaving  one  son  Morris  {I'ide  infra).     He  married  secondly, 

22  August,  1776,  at  Ballytore,  co.  Kildare,  Sarah,  daughter  of  David  and 
Anne  Hall,  late  of  Skipton,  Yorks  ;  she  died  without  issue  17  March,  1804, 
burled  at  Guildford.  Morris  Birkbeck  died  4  April,  18 16,  and  was  buried 
at  Guildford. 

The  silhouettes  given  of  Morris  Birkbeck,  and  no  doubt  of  his  second 

wife  Sarah,  were  lent  me  by  his  great-granddaughter  Mrs.  D'Arcy  (p.  105). 

MORRIS   BIRKBECK   (the   second)   of  Wanborough,  Surrey,  born 

23  January,  1764.  For  several  years  he  was  farming  at  Handford,  near 
Blandford  in  Dorset,  viz.,  from  1785  to  1790,  but  by  1794  he  was  living  at 
Wanborough,  where  he  had  a  large  farm  of  1600  acres,  and  was  considered 
a  gentleman  farmer  of  the  first  order,  and  in  advance  of  his  age.'  He  had 
a  flock  of  Merino  sheep,  apparently  their  first  introduction  into  England.^ 
His  political  views  seem  also  to  have  been  so  advanced  that  he  thought  it 

1  "  Life  and  Letters  of  iSIrs.  Sewell,"  p.  13. 
-  Add.  MSS.  33,112,  fo.  214. 


102  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

advisable  to  leave  England,  and  purchased  16,000  acres  in  Illinois,  where 
he  founded  the  town  of  New  Albion. 

His  books — "  Notes  of  a  Journey  through  France,"  1 8 14,  "  Notes  of  a 
Journey  in  America,"  18  17,  and  "  Letters  from  Illinois,"  18  18 — shew  him 
to  have  been  a  keen  observer  as  a  botanist  and  geologist,  as  well  as  a  practical 
farmer.  The  "  Notes  on  America  "  were  reviewed  in  the  "  Quarterly 
Review  "  by  Gifford,  who  wrote  to  Murray,  "  Birkbeck  appears  to  be  the 
most  dangerous  man  that  ever  wrote  from  America."'  There  are  several 
references  to  him  in  Cobbett's  "  Ride,"  abusing  him  heartily,  as  was  the  fate 
of  most  of  Cobbett's  friends. 

He  married  at  Wandsworth,  24  April,  1794,  Prudence,  daughter  of 
Richard  and  Prudence  Bush  of  Wandsworth,  Surrey.  She  died  25  October, 
I  804,  ast.  29,  and  was  buried  at  Guildford. 

Morris  Birkbeck  was  drowned  when  swimming  his  horse  across  the 
river  Wabash  In  Illinois,  In  June,  1825,  on  returning  from  a  visit  to  Robert 
Owen.     He  had  four  sons  and  three  daughters  : — 

1.  Richard  (p.  103). 

2.  Morris  (p.  103). 

3.  Samuel  Bradford  (p.  104). 

4.  Charles  (p.  106). 

1.  Hannah,   born  9   March,  1796;    died  at  Wanborough   19  May, 

1814. 

2.  Eliza,  born   27  July,    1797  ;  married   at   Illinois,    1822,   Gilbert 

Titus    Pell;    died    1880,   having   had  issue   one   son   and   two 
daughters. 

3.  Prudence,   born    9    October,    1800;    married    at    Illinois,    1823, 

Francis  Hanks;  died  at  Zacatecas  in  Mexico  3  August,  1833, 
having  had  issue  three  daughters. 

'  "Memoirs  of  John  Murray,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  51. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  103 

RICHARD  BIRKBECK,  eldest  son  of  Morris  and  Prudence  (p.  102), 
born  at  Wanborough  13  January,  1795  ;  married  at  Albion,  Illinois,  U.S.A., 
12  April,  1820  or  1 821,  Ann,  daughter  of  John  Wood  of  Killinghurst, 
Chiddingfold,  Surrey,  and  afterwards  of  Shawnetown,  Illinois.  She  died 
circa  1878  ;  he  died  in  1839,  having  had  one  son  and  one  daughter  : — 

Morris,  born  ....  February,  1830;  died  unmarried  10  May,  1861. 

Prudence,    born   10    November,    1824  ;    married,    27    June,    1844, 

Richard  Ford  of  Harmony,  Indiana,  U.S.A.,  by  whom  she  has 

issue  five  sons  and  one  daughter. 

MORRIS  BIRKBECK  (the  third),  second  son  of  Morris  and  Prudence 

(p.  102),  of  Bradford,  Yorkshire,  born  at  Wanborough  10  February,  1799  ; 

married  at   Hamburg,   18   February,   1837,  Bertha,  daughter  of  Christian 

Heinrich  Engelland,  who   died   at  Shortlands,  Kent,  18  November,  1882. 

He  died  at  Bradford  i  September,  1862,  having  had  issue  four  sons  and  three 

daughters  : —  ^     • 

1.  Morris  (ride  infrci).  i.   Katherine  (p.  104). 

2.  Charles  {vide  infra).  2.  Bertha  (p.  104). 

3.  Frederick  {vide  infra).  3.  Mary  (p.  104). 

4.  Edward  (p.  104). 

MORRIS  BIRKBECK  (the  fourth),  eldest  son  of  Morris  and  Bertha 
{vide  supra),  of  Dippen  Hall  Cottage,  Farnham,  Surrey,  born  at  Bradford 
22  November,  1838,  a  Civil  Engineer  in  the  Indian  Public  Works  ;  married 
at  Ealing,  16  May,  1894,  Edith  Marion,  second  daughter  of  John  Milner 
Duffield  of  Gibraltar,  formerly  of  Medenhall,  Norfolk. 

CHARLES  BIRKBECK  {vide  supra),born  at  Bradford  2  May,  1842, 
was  Lieutenant  Royal  Engineers  ;  died  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
14  July,  1874. 

FREDERICK  BIRKBECK  {vide  supra),  born  at  Bradford  21  May, 
1844,  was  a  Magistrate  In  the  Indian  Civil  Service;  died  at  Bradford 
25  September,  1874. 


I04  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

EDWARD  BIRKBECK  (p.  103),  born  at  Bradford  26  August,  1845  ? 
married  at  Wimbledon,  10  March,  1884,  Annie  Caroline,  daughter  of 
John  Milner  Duffieid  of  Gibraltar,  and  has  had  issue  two  sons  and  five 
daughters  : — 

1.  Morris,  born  at  Bradley,  Bovey  Tracey,  Devon,  5  December,  1886. 

2.  Edward,  born  at  Ealing  9  November,  1889. 

1.  Bertha,  born  at  Gibraltar  22  August,  1885. 

2.  Ruth,  born  at  Bradley  2  April,  1888. 

3.  Mary,  born  at  Ealing  2  March,  1891. 

4.  Grace,  born  at  Ealing  20  February,  1895  ;  died  at  Mugairi,  near 

St.  Jean  de  Luz,  France,  11  July,  1898. 

5.  Joan,  born  at  St.  Jean  de  Luz  20  September,  1897. 
KATHERINE      (p.     103),     born      14     August,      1840  ;     married, 

10  August,  1864,  William  Wilson  Harris  of  Bradford,  banker,  who  died 
18  November,  1875.  ^^e  died  24  May,  1879,  leaving  issue  one  son  and 
one  daughter. 

BERTHA  (p.  103), born  27  November,  1848  ;  died  —  September,  i  851. 

MARY  (p.  103),  born  7  June,  1850;  married,  28  August,  1879, 
Bernard  Francis  Harris  of  The  Meadows,  Betchworth,  Surrey,  stockbroker, 
by  whom  she  has  three  sons  and  two  daughters. 

SAMUEL  BRADFORD  BIRKBECK  (p.  102),  born  18  June,  1802  ; 
married  at  Zacatecas,  Mexico,  Damiana  Valdes  (now  living  at  Glenmore, 
Rockhampton,  Queensland)  ;  he  died  at  Rockhampton  5  June,  1867,  having 
had  issue  nine  sons  and  one  daughter  ; — 

1 .  Carlos  Narciso,  born  at  S.  Clemente,  Zacatecas,  29  October,  i  840  ; 

died  unmarried  at  Rockhampton  30  April,  1883. 

2.  Enrique    F'eliciano,  born    at    Zacatecas   9   June,    1842;    died   at 

Zacatecas  25  March,  1843. 

3.  Alfredo   Eluterio,  born  at  Zacatecas   20  February,    1844;    died 

unmarried  at  Rockhampton  14  December,  1898. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  105 

4.  Robert  Epifanio,  born  at  Zacatecas  7  April,  i  846  ;    in  the  Chief 

Engineer's  Office,  Brisbane,  Queensland  ;  married  at  Rock- 
hampton  Frances  J.  L.  L.  Clement,  and  has  issue  two  sons  and 
one  daughter  : — 

1.  Francis    M.    C.,    born    14    April,     1871  ;     married 

Martha    Ann    Butler,    by     whom    he    has    two 
daughters  : — 

1.  Mabel,  born  9  January,  1895. 

2.  A  daughter,  born  —  November,  1898. 

2.  Gilbert  C.  S.  L.,  born  15  March,  1876. 
I.  Dora  M.  C.  J.,  born  3  May,  1880. 

5.  Henry  Angel,  born  at  Zacatecas  2  August,  1850  ;  died  unmarried 

at  Coonamble,  New  South  Wales,  13  July,  1882. 

6.  Samuel    Bradford,  born    at  Zacatecas   16    August,    1852;  living 

unmarried  at  Glenmore,  Rockhampton,  Queensland. 

7.  Morris  Jerome,   born   at   Zacatecas  30   September,    1854;    died 

unmarried  at  Rockhampton  i  January,  1884. 

8.  Arthur  Damian,  born  at  Zacatecas  27  September,  1856  ;   married 

at  Rockhampton,  7  February,  1882,  Grace  Kilgour,  by  whom 
he  had  one  daughter,  who  died  an  infant;  living  1899  at 
Glenmore,  Rockhampton. 

9.  George  Lucio,  born  at  Zacatecas   13   December,  1858;  living  at 

Glenmore,  unmarried. 
I.  Maria  C.  Elena  de  la  Trinidad,  born  at  Zacatecas  6  March,  i  848  ; 

married    at    Sydney,    New    South    Wales,    —    ,    1872, 

William  K.  D'Arcy  of  Stanmore  Hall,  Middlesex  (born 
II  October,  1849).  She  died  at  Stanmore  Hall  19  December, 
1897,  having  had  issue. 

Mr.  D'Arcy   married  secondly,   7  February,    1899,   Mrs. 
Nutting  of  7  Old  Cavendish  Street,  Marylebone,  Middlesex. 


io6  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

CHARLES  BIRKBECK  {vide  p.  102),  born  at  Wanborough 
I  October,  1803  ;  married,  1836,  Josephita,  daughter  of  ...  .  Valeiiruela, 
a  Mexican  lady.     He  died  s.p.  1867. 

WILLIAM  BIRKBECK,  merchant  and  banker  of  Setde,  son  of 
William  and  Deborah  [vide  p.  100),  born  18  December,  1745.  He  was  a 
partner  in  the  Settle  business,  which  in  1791  was  amalgamated  with  that  of 
Alcock  and  Co.  of  Skipton  under  the  name  of  the  Craven  Bank.  Among  the 
family  papers  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Rev.  William  John  Birkbeck  are  his 
diaries,  commencing  1765,  the  earlier  ones  written  in  French,  but  they  contain 
little  matter  of  interest.  He  died  at  Settle  24  November,  i  805,  having  married 
at  Kendal,  i  July,  1 77 1 ,  Sarah,  only  surviving  daughter  of  George  Braithwaite 
of  Kendal.  She  died  i  June,  1 790,  having  had  four  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 

1.  William  {ride  infra). 

2.  George  (p.  108). 

3.  Isaac,  born  6  March,  1779  ;  died  7  March,  1783. 

4.  Forster,  born  6  September,  1783  ;  died  27  April,  1787. 

I.  Alice,    born    10    January,    1774;    married,   16    October,    1805, 

Benjamin   Hornor   of   York.      She   died   at   Halstead,  Essex, 

leaving  issue  two  sons  and  one  daughter. 

WILLIAM   BIRKBECK,   eldest    son    of   William    and    Sarah    {vide 

supra),   born    10  April,  1772,  a   partner  in  the  Settle   Bank,  was  the  first 

member  of  the  Society  of  Friends  to  qualify  as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  (for 

the  West  Riding  of  Yorks),  and  took  great  interest  In  the  establishment  of 

mechanics'  institutes  by  his  brother  George.     He  married  at   Park   End, 

Preston    Patrick,    Westmorland,    14    September,    1796,    Rachel,    youngest 

daughter  of  Nathan  Gough  of  Kendal,  who  died  at  Burnley  20  May,  1846. 

William  Birkbeck  died  at  Linton,  Skipton,  7   January,   1838,  having  had 

issue  two  sons  and  three  daughters  : — 

I.  William,  born   2   September,   1803;    died    14  September,   18 14; 
buried  at  Winchmore  Hill. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  107 

2.   Thomas  [vide  infra). 

1.  Susannah,  born  3  February,  1801  ;  married  at  Settle,  3  July,  1822, 

Edward  William  Wakefield  of  Birklands,  Kendal,  who  died 
6  February,  1858.  She  died  25  March,  1898,  having  had  issue 
three  sons. 

2.  Sarah,  born  29  June,  1 806  ;  married  at  Settle,  3  July,  1 834,  George, 

eldest  son  of  Robert  Stansfeld  of  Field  House,  Sowerby,  Yorks, 
who  died  at  Ashfield,  Settle,  3  March,  1869.  She  died  at 
Ashfield  1 8  July,  1 869,  leaving  issue  four  sons  and  one  daughter. 

3.  Elizabeth,  born  5  April,  181 1  ;  died  unmarried  7  July,  1835. 
THOMAS    BIRKBECK    {vide    supra)    of    Settle,    born     at    Setde 

7  November,  1808,  J. P.  for  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire  and  for  Lancashire  ; 

married,  i  July,  1840,  at  Giggleswick,  Anne,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Carr_ 

He  died  at  Taunton   26   February,   1863,  leaving  issue  one  son  and  three 

daughters  : — 

I.  Rev.  William  John  Birkbeck,  born  24  June,  1846;  Exeter 
College,  Oxon,  B.A.  1869,  M.A.  1877;  ordained  Deacon 
1869,  Priest  1872  ;  Curate  of  Buckland  Newton  1869  ; 
Incumbent  of  Southwick  1876;  Vicar  of  Milborne  Port, 
Somerset,  1883  ;  Vicar  of  St.  Thomas',  Salisbury,  1894  ;  Rector 
of  Weston-super-Mare  1898  ;  Prebendary  of  Bath  and 
Wells  1899.  He  died  at  Weston-super-Mare  17  December, 
1899. 

1.  Rachel   Susannah,   born   20    July,    1844;    married    at   Taunton, 

22  June,  1865,  Rev.  Richard  Addison,  Bridsh  Chaplain  at 
Madeira,  who  died  19  October,  1892.  She  died  17  November, 
1894  ;  buried  at  Brompton,  leaving  issue  three  daughters. 

2.  Rosetta  Anne,  born  4  January,  1848  ;  married  at  Trull,  Somerset, 

5  September,  1872,  Isaac  Badcock  of  loi  St.  George's  Square, 
London,    Queen's    Counsel.      Has    issue    one    son,    Lawrence 

p  2 


io8  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

Henry,  who  (in  accordance  with  the  will  of  his  uncle,  the  Rev. 

W.  J.  Birkbeck)  adopted  by  Deed  Poll,  8  January,  1900,  the 

name  of  Carr  Birkbeck,  instead  of  Badcock.     She  also  has  issue 

three  daughters. 

3.  Emmeline  Carr,  born  8  June,  1851  ;  living  1900. 

Dr.    GEORGE    BIRKBECK,    second    son    of    William    and    Sarah 

(p.  106),  of  4  Finsbury  Square,  London,  born  at  Settle  10  January,  1776. 

Studied  at  Edinburgh   University,  where  he  took  his  M.D.  degree   1799, 

and  was  appointed  Professor  at  the  Andersonian  University,  Glasgow,  being 

only  23  years  of  age.     He  settled  in  London  as  a  Physician  in  1804.      In 

conjunction  with  Lord   Brougham,   who    had   been    his    fellow-student    at 

Edinburgh,   he   founded  the  Mechanics'   Institution,  of  which  he  was  the 

first  President  in  1824  :   it  was  afterwards  called  in  his  honour  the  Birkbeck 

Institution.     In    1827    he  was  one   of  the  founders  of  University  College, 

London. 

He  married  first  Catherine,  daughter  of  Sampson  Lloyd,  1 5  May, 
1806,  at  Berdswell,  Warwickshire.  She  died  12  March,  1807,  leaving 
issue  one  son — 

William  Lloyd  (p.  109). 
Dr.  Birkbeck   married  secondly,  at  Hampstead,  9  July,   18 17,  Anna 
Margaret,  youngest   daughter  of  Henry  Gardner  of  Liverpool.     She  died 
2  July,  1875,  having  had  issue  three  sons  and  two  daughters  : — 

1.  George  Henry  (p.  109). 

2.  Charles,  born  6  December,  1822  ;  died  6  August,  1824. 

3.  Thomas    Brougham,    born     3     June,     1826;      died    unmarried 

13  January,  1859. 

1.  Anna  Margaret,  born   5   May,  1818;    married,  —  June,   1856, 

Lieut.-Col.  Mednyanzsky.     She  died  s.p.  15  March,  1863. 

2.  Frances  Georgina,  born  11  June,  1824  ;  died  25  December,  1858. 
Dr.  Birkbeck  died  i  December,  1841  ;  buried  at  Kensal  Green. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  109 

WILLIAM  LLOYD  BIRKBECK,  son  of  George  and  Catherine 
(p.  108),  born  at  4  Finsbury  Square  3  March,  1807  ;  M.A.  and  Fellow  of 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge  ;  elected  to  the  Downing  Professorship  i860  ; 
Master  of  Downing  College,  Cambridge,  1885  ;  Q.C.  and  Reader  in  Equity 
at  Lincoln's  Inn  from  1852  to  1872.  In  1861  he  gave  a  course  of  lectures 
in  his  own  house  at  Downing  College  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  from  whom 
he  received  a  silver  inkstand  with  an  inscription.  He  succeeded  his  father 
as  President  of  the  Birkbeck  Institution.  He  died  unmarried  at  Downing 
College  25  May,  1888  ;  buried  at  Kensal  Green. 

GEORGE  HENRY  BIRKBECK  (p.  108)  of  31  King  Henry's  Road, 
Primrose  Hill,  London,  born  19  January,  1820  ;  a  Civil  Engineer. 
Married  first,  at  Hampstead,  6  May,  1856,  Margaret  Jane  Jackson, 
step-daughter  of  James  Braidwood,  Superintendent  of  the  London  Fire 
Brigade.  She  died  3  June,  1883,  having  had  issue  eight  sons  and  one 
daughter  : — 

1.  George,    born     in     London    5    April,    1857,    an    Ironmaster    at 

Swansea. 

2.  James    Braidwood    of    Avenue    Lodge,    Upper    Avenue    Road, 

Regent's  Park,  Solicitor;  born  at  Henley-on-Thames  14  Sep- 
tember, 1858;  married,  30  September,  1891,  at  St.  Mary- 
le-bone,  Lillian  Henrietta,  third  daughter  of  Arthur  White, 
Barrister-at-Law,  by  whom  he  has  had  issue  : — 

Harleigh  JeofFrey  Braidwood,  born   31    August,  1894; 

died  19  February,  1895. 
Vera  Lillian   Marie  Evelyn    Braidwood,  born   24  July, 
1892. 

3.  Thomas  Brougham  of  Coolgardie,    Western  Australia,   born   in 

London  3  May,  i860. 

4.  Henry,  of  34  Southampton  Buildings,  Chancery  Lane,  London, 

born  in  London   10  February,  1862  ;  married,  30  September, 


no  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

1 89 1,  at  St.  Mary-le-bone,  Irene  Evelyn,  youngest  daughter  of 
Arthur  White,  Barrister-at-Law,  by  whom  he  has  issue  : — 

1.  Vivian  White,  born  30  November,  1892. 

2.  Cyril  Gardner,  born  24  December,  1893. 

1.  Violet  Winifred,  born  28  August,  1895. 

2.  Esme  Evelyn,  born  7  August,  1898. 

5.  Arthur  of  Darlington,  born  in  London  20  IVIay,  1864. 

6.  Frank   of  Swansea,    born    at    Rockferry   30   November,    1867; 

married  at  Newcastle,  8  February,  1899,  Alice  Louisa  Brown. 

7.  William    Lloyd,    born    at    Rockferry    24    January,    1871  ;    died 

8  May,  1871. 

8.  Albert  Ernest  Gardner  of  31  King  Henry's  Road,  Primrose  Hill, 

born  at  Rockferry  10  February,  1872. 
I.  Anna  Margaret,  born  at  Rockferry  8  March,  1866. 
He  married   secondly,  at  Woolwich,  Martha  Russel,  by  whom  he  has 
one  daughter — 

Grace  Mary,  born  in  London  18  November,  1887. 


JOHN  BIRKBECK  of  King's  Lynn,  Norfolk,  second  son  of  William 
and  Deborah  (p.  100),  born  at  Settle  9  October,  1747  ;  married,  2  August, 
1780,  at  Lammas,  Norfolk,  Martha,  second  daughter  of  Henry  Gurney  of 
Norwich  (born  21  May,  1751).  John  Birkbeck  lived  at  Settle  until  his 
marriage,  and  was  a  partner  with  his  brother  William  in  the  Settle  firm, 
which  was  then  combining  banking  with  the  old  business  of  woollen 
merchants.  Shortly  after  his  marriage  he  went  to  live  in  London,'  in  the 
parish  of  Great  St.  Helen's,"  where  he  carried  on  an  insurance   business, 

1  "  John  Birkbeck,  lately  removed  from  Norwich  to  London"  (Minute  of  Norwich 
Monthly  Meeting,  24  November,  1780). 

-  Burial  of  a  still-born  child,  16  May,  1781  (Friends'  Register). 


HENRY    BIRKBECK    OF    KESWICK. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  in 

acting  as  agent  for  his  brother-in-law  Bartlett  Gurney,  who  was  the 
principal  partner  in  the  Norwich  Bank  (founded  in  1775  by  Henry  Gurney 
and  his  brother  John),  and  who  also  carried  on  an  extensive  marine  insurance 
business.  Their  correspondence  often  refers  to  policies  on  privateers, 
although  both  were  Friends. 

On  I  January,  1782,  he  became  a  partner  in  the  Lynn  branch  of  the 
Norwich  Bank,  which  on  that  day  was  started  as  Gurneys,  Birkbeck,  and 
Co.,  and  went  to  live  in  the  Bank  House  at  Lynn  ;  later  on  he  had  also 
a  country  house  at  Hunstanton.  He  was  not  gazetted  out  of  the  Settle 
Bank  until  1784. 

Among  the  family  papers  in  the  tin  box  at  Settle  before-mentioned 
are  numerous  letters  from  him  to  his  brother  at  Settle  on  business  matters, 
and  many  allusions  to  the  Settle  Bank  sending  coin  to  Lynn  to  pay  away  ; 
apparently  very  often  light  half-guineas,  wrapped  up  in  bales  of  cloth,  and 
forwarded  by  carrier. 

John  Birkbeck  died  19  June,  1808,  at  Upton,  Essex,  at  the  house  ot 
his  brother-in-law  Joseph  Cockfield,  and  was  buried  at  Winchmore  Hill, 
Middlesex.  His  wife  died  at  Lynn  18  December,  1822,  and  was  buried 
at  Norwich. 

John  Birkbeck  left  issue  one  son  and  one  daughter  : — 
Henry  (vide  infra). 

Jane,  born  at  Lynn  21  September,  1789  ;  married  at  Wells, 
Norfolk,  10  September,  181  7,  Joseph  John  Gurney  of  Earlham 
Hall,  Norfolk  (who  died  4  January,  1847),  and  died  10  June, 
1822,  leaving  issue  one  son  and  one  daughter. 

HENRY  BIRKBECK  {vide  supra)  of  Keswick  Old  Hall,  Norfolk, 
and  The  Grove,  Cromer,  Norfolk  (the  engraving  is  from  a  miniature 
by  De  la  Cour,  painted  in  1842),  born  at  Lynn  2  August,  1787  ;  became 
a  partner  in  the  Lynn  Bank  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1808,  having  been 
previously   at   Settle  to   learn  banking   there.     Li    1825    he  left  Lynn   to 


112  .  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

become  a  partner  in  the  Norwich  Bank,  and  lived  at  Mangreen  Hall  until 
1830,  when  he  hired  Keswick.  Old  Hall  from  Hudson  Gurney.  He 
married  first,  8  March,  1820,  at  Wymondham,  Norfolk,  Jane,  second 
surviving  daughter  of  Joseph  Gurney  of  The  Grove,  Lakenham,  near 
Norwich  ;  she  died  at  The  Grove  20  February,  1821,  and  was  buried  at 
Norwich,  leaving  issue  one  son — 
Henry  (p.  113). 
He  married  secondly,  31  July,  1823,  at  Westminster,  Elizabeth  Lucy, 
youngest  daughter  of  Robert  Barclay  of  Clapham,  Surrey,  and  Lombard 
Street,  Banker  ;  she  died  at  Keswick  7  December,  1874,  and  was  buried 
at  Norwich.  Henry  Birkbeck  died  25  December,  1848,  and  was  buried  at 
Norwich,  having  had  issue  by  his  second  marriage  four  sons  and  four 
daughters  : — 

1.  John,   born   at   Mangreen   4   January,    1827;    died    at    Keswick 

21  March,  1845  ;  buried  at  Norwich. 

2.  William  (p.  114). 

3.  Robert  (p.  115). 

4.  Edward  (p.  i  if)- 

1.  Jane,  born  at  Mangreen  14  May,  1828  ;   married,  14  December, 

1847,  at  Taisburgh,  Norfolk,  Henry  Edmund  Gurney  of 
Nutwood,  Gatton,  Surrey,  third  son  of  Samuel  Gurney  of 
Upton,  Essex.  She  died  24  November,  1888,  and  was  buried 
at  Reigate,  leaving  issue  one  son  and  seven  daughters. 

2.  Emma,     born     at     Mangreen     5     December,     1829  ;     married, 

21  December,  1854,  at  Intwood,  Norfolk,  George  von  Bunsen 
of  Berlin,  fourth  son  of  Baron  Bunsen.  He  was  many  years 
Member    of    the    German    Reichstag,    and    died    in    London 

22  December,  1896.  She  died  in  London  25  July,  1899, 
and  was  buried  at  Keswick,  leaving  issue  two  sons  and  five 
daughters  living. 


THE   BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  113 

3.  Lucy,  born  at  Keswick  19  December,  1830  ;   died  unmarried  at 

7  Ladbroke  Terrace,  Netting  Hill,  London,  10  August,  1896; 
buried  at  Keswick. 

4.  Elizabeth,  born  at  Keswick  15  July,  1834;    died  14  December, 

1836  ;  buried  at  Norwich. 
HENRY  BIRKBECK  (vide  p.  112)  of  Stoke  Holy  Cross,  Norfolk 
(which  he  inherited  from  his  maternal  grandfather),  born  at  Lakenham, 
Norfolk,  10  February,  1821  ;  J. P.  for  Norfolk  ;  High  Sheriff  of  Norfolk 
i860  ;  Sheriff  of  Norwich  1854  ;  a  partner  in  the  Banking  firm  of 
Gurneys  and  Co;  married  first  at  Westacre,  25  October,  1849,  Mary 
Anne,  eldest  daughter  of  Anthony  Hamond  of  Westacre,  Norfolk.  She  died 
in  London  i  May,  1862,  and  was  buried  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross,  leaving  issue 
three  sons  and  three  daughters  : — 

1.  Henry  (p.  114). 

2.  William  Redmond,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  27  October,  1856  ; 

died  31  January,  1870  ;  buried  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross. 

3.  Edward  Lewis  (p.  114). 

1.  Mary  Anne,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  19  August,  1851  ;  married 

at  Stoke  Holy  Cross,  7  June,  1886,  Samuel  Gurney  Buxton  of 
Catton  Hall,  Norwich,  second  son  of  Sir  Edward  North  Buxton, 
Bart.     Has  issue  one  son  and  one  daughter. 

2.  Alice  Jane,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  4  September,  1854. 

3.  Katherine  Emily,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  18  December,  1857. 
Henry  Birkbeck  married  secondly,  at  Hillington,  26  September,  1871, 

Etheldreda  Isabella  Browne,  only  daughter  of  Martin  William  Browne  fFolkes, 
eldest  son  of  Sir  William  J.  H.  fFolkes,  Bart.,  of  Hillington  Hall,  Norfolk. 
He  died  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  i  February,  1895,  ^'^"^  ^^^  buried  at  Stoke 
Holy  Cross,  leaving  issue  by  his  second  marriage  two  sons  and  one 
daughter  : — 

I.  Martin,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  10  November,  1873. 


114  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

2.  Geoffrey,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  12  October,  1875. 

I.  Margaret,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  29  May,  1877. 
HENRY  BIRKBECK  (p.  113)  of  Stoke  Holy  Cross  and 
Westacre,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  12  May,  1853  ;  a  partner  in  the 
Norwich  Bank,  which  was  amalgamated  with  others  in  1896  as 
Barclay  and  Co.,  Limited,  of  which  he  is  a  Director  ;  married,  24  February, 
1 88 1,  at  Congham,  Ysabel  Caroline,  fourth  daughter  of  Robert  Elwes 
of  Congham,  Norfolk,  by  whom  he  has  issue  three  sons  and  three 
daughters  : — 

1.  Henry  Anthony,  born  at  Bixley,  Norfolk,  29  January,  1885. 

2.  Gervase  William,  born  at  Bixley  20  April,  1886. 

3.  Christopher  Robert,  born  at  Keswick  26  January,  1889. 

1.  Gillian  Mary,  born  at  Bixley  25  October,  1882. 

2.  Judith,  born  at  Bixley  12  July,  1887. 

3.  Ysabel,  born  at  Keswick  16  June,  1890. 

EDWARD  LEWIS  BIRKBECK  (p.  113)  of  Lexham  Hall, 
Norfolk,  born  at  Stoke  Holy  Cross  16  June,  i860;  a  partner  in  the 
Norwich  Bank,  and  Director  of  Barclay  and  Co.,  Limited  ;  married, 
21  April,  1891,  at  Stanhoe,  Norfolk,  Emily  Augusta,  second  daughter 
of  Admiral  G.  H.  Seymour,  C.B.,  by  whom  he  has  issue  two  sons  and  one 
daughter  : — 

1.  Oliver,  born  at  Caistor  Old  Hall,  Norfolk,  6  May,  1893. 

2.  George,  born  at  Caistor  4  April,  1894. 

I.  Angela  Jane,  born  at  Lexham  16  October,  1898. 
WILLIAM  BIRKBECK  (p.  112)  of  Thorpe,  Norfolk,  born  at  Keswick 
3  August,  I  832  ;  J. P.  for  Norfolk  ;  was  until  1882  a  partner  in  the  Norwich 
Bank.  He  married  first,  16  February,  1858,  at  Woodbastwick,  Elizabeth 
Margaret,  second  daughter  of  Albemarle  Cator  of  Woodbastwick  Hall, 
Norfolk.  She  died  2  March,  1859,  leaving  issue  one  son — 
William  John  (p.  1 1  5). 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


15 


William  Birkbeck  married  secondly,  14  October,  1862,  at  St.  James', 
Westminster,  Susan  Maria,  third  daughter  of  Anthony  Hamond  of  Westacre, 
by  whom  he  had  issue  one  daughter — 

Susan  Elizabeth  Antonia,  born  at  4  Seamore  Place,  London,  27  May, 
1865. 

He  died  in  London  19  November,  1897,  and  was  buried  at  Plumstead, 
Norfolk. 

WILLIAM  JOHN  BIRKBECK  (p.  114)  of  Thorpe,  Norfolk,  and 
32  Sloane  Gardens,  London,  born  at  Thorpe  13  February,  1859  ;  Magdalen 
CoUege,  Oxford,  B.A.  1881,  M.A.  1884;  D.L.  for  Norfolk.  Married  at 
North  Runcton,,  4  October,  1883,  Rose  Katherine,  eldest  daughter  of 
Somerville  Arthur  Gurney  of  North  Runcton,  Norfolk,  by  whom  he  has  had 
issue  three  sons  and  two  daughters  : — 

1.  Benedict,    born    at    30    Thurloe    Square,    London,    21     March, 

1886. 

2.  John  (twin),  born  and  died  3  April,  1888. 

3.  Michael,  born  at  North  Runcton  4  May,  1889. 

1.  Elizabeth,  born  at  30  Thurloe  Square  12  April,  1887. 

2.  Rose  (twin),  born  and  died  3  April,  1888. 

ROBERT  BIRKBECK  (p.  112)  of  Kinloch-Hourn,  Inverness-shire, 
and  20  Berkeley  Square,  London,  born  at  Keswick  10  October,  1836  ; 
D.L.  and  J.P.  for  Inverness-shire  ;  married,  8  December,  1857,  at  Downe, 
Kent,  Mary  Harriet,  eldest  daughter  of  Sir  John  William  Lubbock,  Bart., 
of  Lammas,  Norfolk,  and  High  Elms,  Downe,  Kent. 

SIR  EDWARD  BIRKBECK,  Bart.  (p.  112),  of  Horstead  Hall, 
Norfolk,  and  10  Charles  Street,  Berkeley  Square,  London,  born  at  Keswick 
II  October,  1838;  created  Baronet  9  March,  1886;  M.P.  for  North 
Norfolk  January  1879  to  1885,  and  for  East  Norfolk  from  1885  to  1892  ; 
D.L.  and  J.P.  for  Norfolk  ;  Knight  of  Grace  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  ; 
a  Public  Works'  Loan  Commissioner  ;    Chairman  of  the  Royal   National 

Q  2 


ii6  THE   BIRKBECKS   OF    WESTMORLAND. 

Life-Boat  Institution;   married,  i8  April,  1865,  at  St.  George's,  Hanover 
Square,  London,  Mary  Augusta,  youngest  daughter  of  first  Baron  Hylton. 


Having  traced  the  descendants  of  the  elder  Settle  branch,  we  now 
return  to — 

JOHN  BIRKBECK,  youngest  son  of  William  and  Sarah  (p.  98), 
born  at  Setde  16  February,  1723  ;  a  merchant  at  Settle  ;  married  at  Kendal, 
6  March,  1748,  Sarah,  fourth  daughter  of  John  and  Deborah  Wilson  of 
Kendal.  She  died  9  May,  1773;  buried  at  Settle.  John  Birkbeck  died 
20  June,  1 76 1,  and  was  also  buried  at  Settle.  He  had  issue  five  sons  and 
two  daughters  : — 

1.  John  (p.  117). 

2.  Joseph,  born  12  February,  1752  ;  died  unmarried  23  November, 

1820  ;  buried  at  Setde. 

3.  Wilson,  born  15  February,  1754,  of  Nicholas  Lane,  London  ;  an 

Ironfounder.  He  married  first,  17  September,  1782,  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Robert  Plumstead.  She  died  7  December,  1791, 
leaving  issue  one  son — 

Robert  Plumstead,  born  16  June,  1783  ;  died  at  Ply- 
mouth I  September,  1801. 
Wilson  Birkbeck  married  secondly,  16  December,  1801, 
Grizell,  daughter  of  Samuel  Hoare,  who  had  no  issue,  and 
survived  him,  marrying  subsequently  William  Allen  of  Leeds, 
and  died  1837.  Wilson  Birkbeck  died  at  Stamford  Hill 
2  June,  1 81 2,  and  was  buried  at  Winchmore  Hill. 

4.  Benjamin,  born  15  July,  1757;   a  Miller  at  Allerton  Bywater,  near 

Leeds,  afterwards  Merchant  at  Settle.  He  died  27  September, 
1 8 19,   having   married,    i    August,    1784,    Jane,    daughter    of 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  117 

Nathaniel  English  of  Leeds,  who  died  20  January,  1793,  having 
had  issue  three  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 

1.  Nathaniel,  born  i  November,  1786  ;  died  unmarried 

I  September,  1834. 

2.  John  English,  born  23  July,  1788  ;   died   3   March, 

1789. 

3.  Edward,  born  2  September,    1790;  died  unmarried 

15  April,  I  814. 
I.  Jane,  born  10  May,  1789  ;  died  next  day. 
5.  Edward,  born  5  July,  1759  ;  died  28  November,  1767. 

1.  Deborah,   born    28  February,  1756   ;  died  an   infant    (not   men- 

tioned in  her  father's  will,  dated  7  March,  1761). 

2.  Sarah,   born    11    October,    1761  ;    married,    14   February,    1799, 

Francis    Fox    of    Plymouth.       She    died    30    October,    1833, 

leaving  issue  one  son  and  one  daughter. 
JOHN  BIRKBECK,  eldest  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (p.  116),  born  at 
Settle  22  November,  1749;  a  partner  in  the  Settle  Bank;  married  at 
Lancaster,  12  January,  1779,  Mary,  daughter  of  William  Dillworth  of 
Lancaster,  who  died  7  April,  1830.  He  died  at  Settle  25  June,  18 10, 
having  had  issue  three  sons  and  four  daughters  : — 

1.  Dillworth,  born  11  July,  1780  ;  died  7  August,  1780. 

2.  John  (p.  118). 

3.  Dillworth,  born  26  January,  1789  ;  died  15  May,  1794. 

1.  Esther,  born  7  September,  1783  ;   married  at  Giggleswick,  Setde, 

26  February,  1824,  Joseph  Dockray,  son  of  David  Dockray 
of  Lancaster,  who  died  22  September,  1855.  She  died  at 
Lancaster  1 5  June,  1 844,  leaving  issue  one  daughter. 

2.  Mary,  born  31  August,  1785  ;  died  7  February,  1786. 

3.  Hannah,   born    13   January,    1788  ;    married    at   Airton,    Leeds, 

18  December,  18 10,  John  Joseph  Nevins,  son  of  Pim  Nevins, 


ii8  THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 

who  died  20  May,  1870.     She  died  at  Clevesdale,  Downend, - 
Gloucestershire,  21  March,  1863,   having  had   issue   five  sons 
and  seven  daughters. 
4.  Sarah,  born  20  September,   1793  ;  died  22  April,  1794. 
JOHN    BIRKBECK,   son   of  John  and   Mary   (p.    T17),   of  Anley, 
Settle,  Banker,  born    at  Settle  12  July,  1781  ;   married  at  Airton,  11   May, 
1 81 5,  Margaret,  daughter  of  John  Ion  of  Broadmire  in  Dent,  Yorkshire. 
She  died  at  Giggleswick    17  June,    1865.     John   Birkbeck  died  at  Anley 
27  July,  1844,  having  had  issue  two  sons  and  five  daughters  : — 

1.  John  (p.  1 19). 

2.  Joseph  (p.  119). 

1.  Mary,  born  29  February,  1816  ;  died  7  July,  18 16. 

2.  Elizabeth,     born     5     April,     18 19  ;     married     at     Giggleswick, 

5  December,  1843,  ^'^v.  John  Stansfeld,  youngest  son  of 
Robert  Stansfeld  of  Field  House,  Sowerby,  Halifax,  and 
Vicar  of  Coniston,  Yorkshire.  She  died  at  Coniston  Cold 
9  February,  1861,  having  had  issue  one  son  and  one 
daughter.  John  Stansfeld  died  21  November,  1880,  having 
married  secondly  Frances,  daughter  of  James  Hamerton  of 
Hellingfield  Peel,  and  widow  of  Peter  Garforth  of  Coniston 
Hall. 

3.  Sarah,  born  11  November,  1821  ;  died  3  May,  1829. 

4.  Margaret,  born  27  June,    1825  ;  married  at  Settle,  3  May,  1850, 

Rev.  William  Frederick  Pierson,  Perpetual  Curate  of  Settle, 
who  died  18  August,  1883.  She  died  at  Setde  27  February, 
I  871,  having  had  issue  three  sons  and  one  daughter. 

5.  Sarah  Mary,  born  9  December,  1834  ;  married  at  Settle,  15  June, 

1855,  Rev.   Mathew  Wood,  Vicar  of  Kington,  co.  Hereford, 

who  died ,  1887,  his  widow,  living  at  Oxford    1899, 

having  had  issue  three  sons  and  one  daughter. 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND.  119 

JOHN  BIRKBECK,  eldest  son  of  John  and  Margaret  (p.  118)  of 
Anley,  Settle,  born  at  Settle  6  July  181  7  ;  a  partner  in  the  Settle  Bank  ; 
J.P.  for  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire  and  for  Lancashire  ;  married  at  Halifax, 
9  June,  1 841,  Lydia,  daughter  of  Robert  Stansfeld  of  Field  House,  Sowerby, 
Halifax.  She  died  at  Settle  6  September,  1886.  John  Birkbeck  died  at 
Settle  31  July,  1890,  having  had  issue  three  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 

1.  John  (lide  infra). 

2.  Robert  Stansfeld  (a  twin),  born  at  Giggleswick  23  August,  1846  ; 

a  Major  in  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  West  Riding  Regiment 
of  Militia  ;  a  genealogist  ;  died  at  the  Barracks  in  York 
II  July,  1882. 

3.  George  (a   twin),    born   23   August,    1846  ;    died  4  November, 

1846. 
I.  Lydia  Margaret,  born  8  July,  1844  ;  died  28  November,  1844. 
JOHN  BIRKBECK,  son  of  John  and  Lydia  (wWe  iM/jrw),  of  Anley, 
Setde,  born  at  Settle  i  July,  1842  ;  J.P.  for  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire  ; 
married  at  Settle,  3  October,  1867,  Rachel  Wilhelmina,  second  daughter 
of  George  Stansfeld  of  Ashfield,  Setde,  now  living  ( 1 900)  at  Anley.  He  died 
at  Mentone  15  April,  1892,  leaving  issue  three  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 

1.  John,  born  at  Setde   8    March,  1872;  Lieutenant  4th  Battalion 

Cameronians  (Scottish  Rifles). 

2.  Victor  John,  born  at  Setde  27  July,  1873  ;  Lieutenant  ist  Battalion 

East  Surrey  Regiment. 

3.  Hylbert  John,  born   at   Settle   5    September,   1879  ;    Lieutenant 

ist  Battalion  West  India  Regiment. 

I.  Mary  Inez,  born  at  Settle  13  September,  1870. 

JOSEPH  BIRKBECK,  second  son  of  John  and  Margaret  (p.  118), 

of  LangclifFe,  Bournemouth,  Dorset,  born  at  Setde  9  June,  1830  ;    married, 

28  August,  1856,  Mary  Ehzabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Lewis  Mackesy, 

M.D.,    F.R.C.S.,    J.P.    of    Waterford    and    of    Dunkitt,    co.    Kilkenny. 


I20  THE    BIRKBECKS    OF    WESTMORLAND. 

She  died  2  July,  1899,  at  Woodlands,  Wellington,  Somerset,  and  was 
buried  at  Bournemouth.  Joseph  Birkbeck  died  16  June,  1897  ;  buried 
at  Bournemouth,  having  had  issue  three  sons  and  one  daughter  : — 

1.  Vincent  Mackesy,   Major   in   the  Royal  Scots  Fusiliers,  born  at 

Settle  26  June,  1857  ;  married  at  Gouldhurst,  17  July,  1894, 
Winifred  Agnes,  daughter  of  Robert  Henry  Alexander  of 
Brandfold,  Gouldhurst,  Kent,  by  whom  he  has  issue  two  sons 
and  one  daughter  : — 

1 .  Roderick  Ion  Vincent,  born  at  Bournemouth  2 1  July, 

1896. 

2.  Robert    Alexander,   born    at    Auchendinny    House, 

Midlothian,  8  October,  1898. 
I.  Norah   Mary   Winifred,   born    at  Belgaurn  5   July, 
1895. 

2.  John  Lewis,  born  at  Settle  25  April,  1859  ;  died  7  May,  1881. 

3.  William  Henry,  Major  in  the  King's  Dragoon  Guards  ;  born  at 

Settle  8  April,  1863. 
I.  Edith  Margaret,  born  at  Settle  27  November,  i860  ;  married  at 
Bournemouth,  21  September,  1886,  Francis  John  Royds  Bentley, 
eldest  son  of  John  Bentley,  J. P.,  D.L.,  of  Birch  House,  Bolton, 
Lancashire,  and  36  Portland  Place,  London  ;  living  1900  at 
Woodlands,  Wellington,  Somerset. 


SKETCH     PEDIGREE 


iSirfefaecfes  of  iBlallerstang  auD  t\)tix  Bescenljants. 


SKETCH    PEDIGREE   OF   THE    BIRKBECKS   OF    MALLERSTANG.       123 

(The  numbers  refer  u<  the  pages.) 


(103)   RiCHARD,=pAnne  Wood. 

b.  i-jgj;  d.  i8,;i9.     m-  1821  ;  d.  1878. 


(lOj)    Morris, 

Richard=p:(io3)  Prudence, 

(105)    Morris,  =  Edith 

(103)  Charles, 

1 
(103)    Frederick 

b.  iSjO; 

Ford, 

b.  1824;  m.  1844; 

of      Dippenhall     Marion 

b.  1843;  d.  1874. 

b.  1844;  d.  1874 

d.  1861,  unm. 

b.  1820  ; 

living 

1900.       . 

living  1900. 

Cottage,     Farn-     Duffield, 
ham,      Surrey;     m.  1894. 
b.   1838;  livina: 

1900. 

124 


SKETCH    PEDIGREE   OF   THE 


(103)   MoRRis,=pBertha  Engelland, 
>f  Bradford.  Yorks,  b.  1799;  d.  1862.  |  b.  1811  ;  m.  1837; 


(104)  Edward,: 
b.  1845  ■'  living 
1900. 


(  104)  Morris 

1).   l886;livill; 

I  i;Oo. 


Annie  Caro- 
line Duffiekl 
ni.     1884, 
liviiitr   1900, 


I 

William=f:(i04)  Katherink. 


Wilson 
Harris, 
b.  1841; 
d.  1875., 


1840;  ni. 
1879. 


1864; 


(104)  Berti 
b.  I  848  ; 
d.   l8s-i. 


(104)  Edward, 
b.    1889;   living 

1900. 


(104)  Bertha, 
b.  1885  ;  living 
1900. 


(104)  Ruth, 

b.  1888; 
living  1900. 


I 
Bernard  Francis^(i04)  Mary, 
Harris,  b.  1845;  ^-  1^5°; 

living  1900.  m.  1879  ; 

I    living  1900. 


(104)   Mary, 
b.  189]  ;    living 
1900. 


(104)  Grace, 
b.  1895;  d. 
1898. 


(104)    Joan, 

b.  1897; 
living  1900. 


BIRKBECKS   OF    MALLERSTANG   AND   DESCENDANTS.  125 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


(104)  Samuel  BRADFORD,=j=Damiana  Valdes,  m.  1839; 
b.  1802;  d.  1867.  living  1900. 


(104)   Carlo.s  Narcisso,  (104)    ENRiauE       (104)    Alfredo  (105)    Robert  EpiFAMO,=j=Prances  J.  L.L. 

b    rS'o-  d    1883  Feliciano,  Eluterio,  of   Brisbane,  Queensland ;     Clement,     living 

b.  1842;  d.  1843.  b.  1844;   d.  b.  1846;  living  1900.  1900. 

1898.  ! 


I ~  \  I 

(10.^)    Francis  M.   C.,=pMartha  Ann  Butler.  (105)   Gilbert  C.  S.  L.,  (103)    Dora   M.   C. 

b.   .871  ;  living  1900.     I  b.  1876;  living  1900.  b.  1880;  living  19c 


(101;)   Mabel,  b.  1895;  living  1900.  (105)  A  daughter,  b.  1898;  living  1900. 


SKETCH    PEDIGREE   OF   THE 


I  \ 

(106)   Charles, =  [osefita  Valenruda,  m.  1836.  (102)    H\nn\h 

>.  1805;  d.  1867.  b.   1796;  d.  1814. 


I  —] 1 

(105)    Henrv  Angel,  (105)    Samuki,    Bradford,  (,05)    M„rris    Ter„me, 

h.  1850  ;  d.  1882.  .)f  Rockhanipton,  Queensland;  b.  i8j2;  living  1900.  b.  iS^;  d.  1884. 


BIRKBECKS   OF    MALLERSTANG   AND    DESCENDANTS. 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


Hannah  Bradford,  m.  1763;  d.  i764.=f(ioi)    MoRRi,s,=  Sarah  Ha!l,  m.  1776;  d.  1804. 
ist  wife.  j  ofWanborough,  2nd  wife. 

I  Surrey;  b.  1734; 
I  d.  1816. 


(joi)  MoRRis,=pPriidence  Bush,  m.  1794;  d.  1804. 
of  Wanboroiigh,  Surrey;  b.  1764;  d.  1825.  I 


27 


Gilbert  Titus  Pell=p(io2)  Eliz.s  Francis  Hanks=p(i02)    Prudence, 

I  b.  1797  ;   m.  1822  ;  d.  1880.  I  b.  1800  ;  m.  1823  ;  d.  1833. 


(105)  Arthur  DAMiAN.^Grace  Kilgour,  (105)  George  Lucio,       W.  K.  D'Arcy,=p(ioO  Maria    C.  Elena 

ofRockhampton,Queens-     ni.  1882.  of      Rockhampton,  Hving  1900.        I  de     la      Trinidad-    b 

land;     b.    1856;     hving  Queensland;  b.  1858  ;  1848;  m.  1872 ;  d.  1807. 

1900.  I  living  1900.  ^ 

A  daughter,  d.  inf. 


SKETCH   PEDIGREE   OF   THE 


(76)  ALEXANDER    BIRKBECK,=r 

of  Blue  Grass,  Mallerstang  ;  d.  1582.  | 


(76)   JoHN,=f=Catherine 
of  Blue  Grass  and  Deepgill ;  d.  1619.  I 


(77)    WlLLIAM,=j=. 

of  Blue  Grass;  m.  before  1604. 


(79)    HENRY,=f=Anne 
sold  Blue  Grass;  d.  1682.  I 


(79)   John, 
living  1649. 


(79)  Agnes, 
living   1619. 


(79)   Margaret,        (79)  Elizabeth, 


living 


iving  1619. 


(79)   William, 

Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge  ; 

b.  1641  ;  d.  1694. 


(81)   Roger,  Thomas  Harrii 

)f   London  ;    living 
1676. 


(79)   Margaret, 
living  1676. 


(106)    William, 

(107)   THOMAs,=fAnne  Carr, 

b.  1803;  d.  1814. 

of     Settle;      b.  |  b.  1820 ; 

1808;  d.    1863.  t  m.  1840. 

Edward   Wm.  Wakefield, 
b.  1799;  d.  i8j8. 


I 
(107)  Susannah, 


m.  1822;  d.  1898. 


1 n  I 

(107)   Rev.  William        Rev.  Richard=r(io7)   Rachel  Isaac  Badcock,=F{io7)    Rosetta 

|(iHN,       Rector       of       Addison,          I  Susannah,     b.  b,  1848 ;  living  I  Anne,  b.  1848 ; 

SVeston-super-Mare ;        b.  18,32;             1844;  m.  1865;  1900.                      m.  1872;  living 

b.  1846;  d.  1899.             d.  1892.           I  d.  1894.          "  I  19°°- 

A-  /K 


(108) 

Carr, 
living 


h,MMELINE 
b.  l8jl; 
900. 


BIRKBECKS   OF    MALLERSTANG   AND    DESCENDANTS.  129 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


(81)   GEOFFREY,=pIsabel 
jf  Deepgill,  Mallerstaiig ;  m.  before  1619;  d.  after  1651.  I 


d.  1670. 


(77)   Henry, 
living  1619. 


(81)  John, 
sold  Deepgill  to  his 
brother  William  ;   b. 
before  1619. 


I 

(81)    Nicholas, 
b.  before  1619.  1670   and    1677. 

ist  wife. 


I  I, 

d.  between=j=(83)   WiLLiAM,=pIsabel   Bell,   m.      (82)   James 
of  Deepgill;  b.  I  1677;  d.  1715. 
after    1619;    d.  2nd  wife. 


I  III 

RuthWaller,=:p(87)    RicHARD,=rElizabeth        John=(86)  Isabell,     Stephen=(87)  Agnes,       (87)  Margaret, 


1.   1688;    d. 
1707.     1st 
wife. 


of  Penrith  ;  b. 
1663  ;  probably 
survived  2nd 
wife. 


Shaw.       b.  1657;  m.      Todd.         b.    1666;  m.        m.  1696  Christo- 
1696.  1689.  pher  Milner. 


(89)   William, 
b,  and  d.  1699. 


I 
(90)   Jane 
b.  1694. 


(90)   Ruth, 
b.    1696 :  d.  1698. 


(90)    Sarah, 
b.  1702  ; 
d.  1703. 


(90)   Anne, 
b.  1704; 
d.  1713. 


(90)   Richard, 
b.  1711. 


(99)    Prescilla, 

b.    1731  ;    d.    1733. 


(io6)  WiLLiAM,=f=Rachel  Gough,  b.  1770;  m.  1796;  d.  1846. 
of  Settle;  b.  1772;  d.  1838. 


George  Stansfeld,=p(io7)   Sarah, 

d.  1869.  I  b.  1806;  m.  i8h;   d.  li 


(107)   Elizabeth. 
b.  1811  :  d.  183s. 


II  II 

(109)  George,      (109)   jAMES=pLillian  H.  White,     (109)  Thomas     (109)   HENRY,=pIrene  E.      (no)  A 


b.   1857;  living      Braidwood, 
1900.  b.   1858;  liv- 

ing 1900. 


I  ;    living        Brougham,        b.    1862  ;    liv- 
1900.  b.  i860;  living     ing  1900. 

1900. 


White,         b.  1864 
m.  1891  ;     1900. 
living 
1900. 


rthur. 
;   living 


(109)    Harleigh   Jeoffrey  Braidwood,          (109)   Vera   Lillian  Marie   Evelyn   Kraidwood, 
b.  1894;  d.  1895.  ^-  '892;  living  1900. 

S 


3° 


SKETCH    PEDIGREE    OF    THE 


John  Fothergil!,=p(83)  Jane, 
d.  1659.  I  m.  le-jfi. 


(83)   Helen, 
b.  before  1619. 


(83)  Agnes, 
b.  before  16 19. 


Mary  Jackson, 
living  1739. 


=  (90)   John, 

of  St.  Mary-at-Hill,  London;  b.  1678; 
living  1740  (twin  with  Frances). 


(87)    Frances, 
b.  1678  ;  living  1698  (twin  with  John). 


(92)   John, 
d.  1738. 


(92)   Jeotfrey, 
b.  I  7  15;   probably  d.  1738. 


(92)    Is.dell, 
b.  1702. 


John  Fell,  d.  i8o3=p(99)   Sarah, 

I  b.  1733;  m.  1764. 


(99)    Esther, 
b.  1737  ;  d.  1741. 


Catherine  Lloyd,  m.  1806;  d.  i8o7.=p(io8)   Dr.   GEORCE.^Anna  Margaret  Gardner,  b.  J  793  ;  m.  1817  ;  d.  187 
1st  wife.  b.  1776;   d.  1841.  2nd  wife. 


I  I 

(109)    William    Lloyd,  Margaret  Jane=p(io9)    George    HENRY,=pMartha  Russel 

Jackson,  m.  b.  1820;  living  1900.         I  m.  1887;  living 

1856;  d.  1883.  I   1900.  2nd  wife, 

ist  wife. 


b.  1807;  d.  1888,  m: 


(108)    Charles, 
b.  1822;  d.  1824. 


I  I                                             i                                      I                                      I 

(no)    Frank,  =  Alice  Louisa  (i  10)  William      (no)    Albert    Ernest     (no)   Anna          (no)  Grace   Mary, 

1).  1867;  living     Brown,      m.  Lloyd,                         Gardner,                  Margaret,          b.  1887  ;   living  1900. 

1900.                      1899;    living  b.  and  d.  1871.       b.  1872;   living  1900.       b.    1866; 

1900.  living  1900. 


I  I  I  I 

(no)    Vivian    White,  (no)  Cyril  Gardner,          (no)  Violet  Winifred,         (no)  EsmI;  Evelyn, 

b.  1892;  living  1900.  b.  1893;  living  1900.  b.  1893;  living  1900.  b.  1898;  living  1900. 


BIRKBECKS    OF    MALLERSTANG   AND    DESCENDANTS.  131 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


H  (95)    William, =f=Sarah  Armitstead,  b.  1684; 

f  of   Settle;   d.  1751.  I  m.   1703;   d.   1749. 


(87)     ISABELl 

b.  1680. 


(87)   Agnes, 
b.  1684;  d.  1685. 


Sarah  Morris,  b.  1706;  m.  I730;=p(98)  William,  of  Giggleswick,=f=Deborah  Wilson,  b.  1722;  m.  1744; 
d.  1740.      1st  wife.  I  Settle;   b.  i7o_5;  d.  1772.  d.  1781.     2nd  wife. 


(106)    William, =j=Sarah  Braithwaite,  b.  1750;  m.  1771;    d.  1790. 
of  Settle;  b.  1745;  d.  1805. 


(106)  Isaac, 
b.  1779  ;  d.  17S 


(106)   FoRSTER,  Benjamin  Hornor,=j=(io6)    Alice, 

b.  1783  ;  d.  1787.  b.  1771  ;  d.  1836.    |  b.  1774;  m.  1805. 


(108)  Thomas  Brougham, 
b.  1826:  d.  1859. 


Lieut.-Col.=  (io8)   Anna  Margaret, 
Mednvanzsky.     b.     1818;     m.    1856;     d. 
1863. 


{108)   Frances  GE0RGI^ 
b.  1824;  d.  1858. 


(114)  Henry, =j=Ysabel  Caroline      (113)  William  Redmond,     (114)    Edward  Lewis, 
of  Westacre,  Norfolk  ;  |  Elwes,  m.  1881 ;  '  b.  1856;   d.  1870.  of   Lexham    Hall,    Nor. 


b.  1853  ;  living  1900.     I  living  1900. 


folk;     b.     1000;     living 
1900. 


EmilyAugusta 
Seymour,  m. 
1 89 1  ;  living 
1900. 


II  I                                        III 

(114)  Henry     (ii4)Gervase  (i  14)  Christopher  (114)    Gillian     (114)    Judith,      (114)   Ysabel, 

Anthony,            William,  Robert,                       Mary,             b.  1887;  living      b.  1890 ;  living 

b.  1885;             b.  1886;  b.  1889;    living  b.   1882;  living     1900.                        1900. 

living  1900.        living  1900.  1900.  1900. 


132 


SKETCH    PEDIGREE   OF   THE 


(98)    Richard, 
b.  ijii  ;  d.  1727 


(no)   JoHN,=j=IVIartha  Gurney,  b.  1751 
of  King's  Lynn;  b.  1747;  d.  1808.     m.  1780;  d.  1822. 


(100)  Thomas, 
b.  1749;   d.  1752 


I  I  I 

lane  Gurney, b.  i789;^(iii)  Henry,  of  Keswick=pE!izabeth  Lucy  Barclay,  Joseph  John  Gur-=j=(ui)    Jane, 

in.  1820;  d.  1821.    I  St  I  Old     Hall,     Norfolk;     b.  I  b.    1800  ;   m. '  1823  ;  d.  ney,  b.    1788  ;    d.  |  b.  1789 ;  m.  181  7 

wife.  1787;  d.  1848.  1874.     2nd  wife.  1847.  /|xd.  1822. 


Mary  Anne  Hamond,  m.  1849  ;=p(i  13)   HENRY,=f:Etheldreda  IsabelLi  Browne  ffolkes,  ni.  187  i  ;         (112)    John, 
d.  1862.      1st  wife. 


of  Stoke  Holy 
Cross,       Nor- 

I  folk;   b.  182 1; 

I  d.  1895. 


living  1900.     2nd  wife. 


b.  1827 
d.  1845. 


■  I  1  I  I  II 

Samuel=p(ii3)    Mary  (113)  Alice     (i  13)  Katherine       (113)    Martin,     (114)    Geoffrey,      (114)  Mar- 
(4urney      !         Anne,  Jane,  Emily,    b.    1857;       b.  1873;    living     b.     1871;;     living     garet,    b. 

Buxton,      lb.    [851  ;    m.  b.   1854;   liv-     living  1900.  1900.  1900.  1877;      liv- 

b.  1838;       1886;    living  ing  1900.  ing  1900. 

living  I   1900. 

1900.         ,\^ 

'  '         ■  I  \  I 

(114)   Oliver,  (114)   George,  ('H)   Angela  Jane, 

b.  1893;   living  1900.  b.  1894;  living  1900.  b.  1898;  living  1900. 


BIRKBECKS   OF    MALLERSTANG   AND   DESCENDANTS.  133 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


(100) 

i 

Richard, 

(100 

)  James, 

(100) 

1 
Thomas, 

(100)   James, 

(10 

1) 

Deborah, 

b- 175 

I;  d. 

1771. 

b. 

d. 

•752; 
1753- 

b-  1753 

;    d. 

1759- 

b.  1755;  d. 

1765. 

b.  I 

756 

;  d.  1821. 

1858;  d.  i8.j9.=p(ii4)   WiLLiAM,=pSusan  Maria  Hamond,  ni.  1862;  living  1900. 


Elizabeth  Margaret  Cator,  m 
ist  wife. 


]  of  Thorpe  High 
Hou.se,  Norfolk  ; 
b.  18.32;  d.  1897. 


(115)  William  JoHN,=pRose  Katherine  Gurney, 
of  Thorpe,  Norfolk,  and  33  Sloane  m.  1883  ;  living  1900. 
Gardens,  London  ;  b.  1859  ;  living  1900. 


2nd  wife. 


(115)  Susan   Elizabeth  Antoni 
b.  1865  ;  living  1900. 


(115)  Benedict, 
b.  1886;  living  1900. 


I  I 

(115)  John  and  Rose, 
b.  and  d.  1888. 


(115)  Michael,  (j 

,  1889  ;  living  1900.         b. 


15)  Elizabeth, 
887;  living  1900, 


134 


SKETCH   PEDIGREE   OF   THE 


(ii6)   JoHN,=j=Sarah  Wilson,  b.  1727  ;  m.  1748;  d.  177,3. 
of  Settle;  b.  1723  ;  d. 


...:j 


(117)   JoHN,=pMary  DilKvorth,  b.  175.3;   m.  1779;  d.  1830. 
of  Settle  ;  b.  1749;  d.  18 10. 


(117)      DlLLWORTH, 

b.  and  d.  1780. 


jf  Anley,  Settle  ;   b. 


(118)    J OHN,=p Margaret   Ion,  b.  j 
1781  ;  d.  1844.     ™-  1815;  d.  1S65. 


(117)    D 


ILLWORTH, 


[789;    d.    1794. 


I 

(115)  RoBERT,=  Mary  Harriet 
of  Kinloch-Hourn,  Lubbock,  m. 
Inverness-shire,  1857  ;    living 

and     20     Berkeley      1900. 
Square,  London  ;  b. 
1836  ;  living  t900. 


I 
(115)  Sir  EDvvARD,=  Hon.    Mary 

of    Horstead    Hall,  Augusta 

Norfolk,       and  JollitJ'e,     ni. 

10    Charles    Street,  1865;      liv- 

Berkeley  Square;  b.  ing  1900. 
1838  ;  living   1900. 


I 
Henry  Edmund=p(  1 12)  Jane, 
Gurney,     b.  I  b.  1828  ;  m.  1847 

183 1  ;'  living  d.  1888. 

1900.  I 


BIRKBECKS   OF    MALLERSTANG   AND    DESCENDANTS.  135 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


I  I 

Josiah  Forster,  d.  ij62^(g8)  Jane,  (98)  Sarah, 

I  b.  1709;  m.   1734;  d.  1797.  b.  1721  ;  d.  17; 


I 

(116)   Joseph, 
b.  1752;   d.  1820. 


II  II 

Joseph  Dockrav,=p(ii7)    Esther,      (117)   Mary,  John    Jowitt  Nevins,=p(i  17)  Hannah,      (118)    Sarah, 

b.  i78i;d.  1855.     b.     1783;      m.  b.  178';;  '  b.  1786;  d.  1870.         b.      1788;      m.  b.  1793; 

I  1824;  d.   1844.  d.  1786.  I  x8io;  d.  1863.  d.  1794. 


I  I  I 

George  von  Bunsen,=p(ii2)   Emma,  (113)    Lucy,  (113)    Elizabeth, 

b.  1824;   d.  1896.       I  b.  1829;  ni.  1854;  d.  1899.  b.  1830  ;   d.  1896.  b.  1834;  d.  1836. 


136 


SKETCH   PEDIGREE    OF   THE 


Hannah  Pkimstead,  b.  1758;  ni.  1782  ;=p:(i  16)  WiLSON',=  Grizell  Hoare,  b.  1757;  m.  1801 


[791.      I  St  wife. 


of    Nicholas 
Lane,    I,ondon  ; 
b.  1754;  d.  1 81 2. 


1.^7.     2nd  wife. 


(116)    Robert    Pi.umstead,  b.  1783;  d.  iSoi 


(119)   JoHN,=pLydia  Stansfeld,  m.  1841  ;  d.  li 
of  Anley,  Settle;  b.  1817  ;  d.  1890. 


I  III 

(iiy)  JoHN,=pRachel   Williel-     (119)  Robert  Stanskeld,      (119)   George,       (119)    Lydia  Margaret, 
Aiilry,  Settle;  I  mina  Stansfeld,     b.    1846;     d.     1882     (twin      b.   and  d.   1846  b.  and  d.  1844. 


.S42: 


m.  1867;  living     with  George). 
1900. 


(twin  with  Ro- 
bert). 


II  II 

(ng)   John-,  (119)  Victor  John,  (119)    Hylbert  John,  (119)    Mary   Inez, 

b.  1872;  li\ing  1900.  b.  1873;   living  1900.  b.  1879;  living  1900.  b.  1870;  living  1900. 


BIRKBFXKS   OF    MALLERSTANG   AND    DESCENDANTS.  13' 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


(ti6)   BENjAMiN,=pJane  Enghsh,  b.  1758  ;  m.  1784;  _d.  1793. 
of  Allerton  Bywater,  near  Leeds  i  b.  1757  ;  d.  1819. 


(117)    Nathaniel,  (h?)   John  English,  (u/)    Edward, 

b.  1786;  d.  18,34,  unm.  b.  1788;   d.  1789.  b.  1790;  d.  1814. 


(117)    Jane, 
b.  and  d.  1789. 


(119)   JosKPH,=j=Mary  Elizabeth  Macke.sy,  b.  1830;  m.  iSj6; 
of  Langcliffe,  Bournemouth  ;   b.  1830  ;  d.   1897.  , 


1  II  I 

(120)     ViNCENT=^Winifred  Agnes       (120)  John      (120)   William        Francis  J()hn  =  (i2o)   Kdith   Margaret, 


Mackesy, 
b.    1857  ;    living 
1900. 


Ale.\ander,      m.  Lewis,  Henry,  Royds   Bent-     b.  i860;  in.    1886;   living 

1894;      living         b.  1859;  b.     1863;    living      ley.  1900. 

1900.  d.  1881.  1900. 


I  I 

(120)   Roderick  Ion  Vincent,         (120)   Robert  Alexander, 
b.  1896;  living  1900.  b.  1898;  living  1900. 


(i2o)   Norah  ^L\Ry  Winifred, 
b.  1895  ;  living  1900. 


138  SKETCH   PEDIGREE   OF   THE 


I  I  I 

(117)   Edward,  (h?)  Deborah,  Francis  Fox,  b.  i765;=p(ii7)  Sarah, 

b.  1759;  d.  1767.  b.  1756;  d.  an  inf.  d.  1812.  |  b.  1761;  m.  1799;  d.  18,33. 


I  I  I 

(n8)  Mary,    Rev.  John  Stansfeld,^(ii8)  Elizabeth,  (hS)  Sarah, 

b.  andd.  1816.    b.  1814;  d.  1880.    |  b.  1819  ;  m.  1843  ;  d.  [861.     b.  1821  ;  d.  1829. 


BIRKBECKS   OF    MALLERSTANG    AND   DESCENDANTS.  139 

(The  numbers  refer  to  the  pages.) 


I  I 

Rev.  William   Frederick  Pierson,=r(i '8)    Margaret,  Rev.  Mathe\v=r(i  i8)    Sarah  Mary, 

b.  1821  ;  d.  i88?.  I  b.  1825;  m.  1850;  d.  1871.         Wood,   d.        I  b.  1834;  m.  i855;]iv 


INDEX 


INDEX. 


.  23.  33.  34,  80. 


Addison,  Rachel  S.,  107. 
AUvent,  Ralph,  19. 
Andrew,  Richard,  5. 
„       Thomas,  5. 
Angerholme,  91. 
Armitstead,  Richard,  94. 

Sarah,  96. 
Arms,  1,2,  3,4,  5.6,  7,  13,14,20,  : 

„       Disclaimer  of,  44. 
Arthur,  King,  Round  Table  of,  65. 
Assize  Rolls"",  11,  67. 
Atkinson,  Miss,  61,  67. 

Robert,  60,  61,  62. 


Backhouse,  John,  16. 
Badcock,  Rosetta  Anne,  107. 
Bainbridge,  Anne,  19. 
Balliol,  Edward,  66. 
Barclay,  Elizabeth  Lucy,  112. 
Barlow,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  43. 
Becket,  Thomas  il,  62. 
Benson,  Robert,  28. 
Bentley,  Edith  M..  120. 
BiRKBECK,  Agnes,  87. 

Albert  Ernest,  no. 

,,  Alexander,  of  Blue  Grass   (d.  1582),  75, 

76. 

,,  Alfredo  Eluterio,  104. 

,,  Ambrose,  of  Great  Chilton,  20. 

Anna,  wife  of  Henry,  of  Headlam,  4,  22, 

23- 
,,  Anne,  wife  of  Henry,  of  Blue  Grass,  79. 

„  Anne,  wife  of  Richard,  of  Morton  Tyn- 

mouth,  4,  19. 
Anne,  wife  of  Thomas,  of  Orton,  46. 
Arthur,  no. 
,,  Arthur  Damian,  105. 

,,  Benjamin,  1 16. 

Brian,  46. 
,,  Bridget,  wife  of  Edward,  of  Hornby,  21, 

24,25. 
,,  Carlos  Narcisso,  104. 

Catherine,  wife  of  John,  of  Blue  Grass, 
76. 
,,  Catterick,  27. 

,,  Charles,  of  Osgoodby,  6. 

Charles  (b.  1803),  106. 
Charles  (b.  1842),  103. 


Christopher,  Dr,  6. 

Cuthbert,  Rev.,  3,  20. 

Edward,  of  Hornby  (1543).  '5.  16,  17. 

Edward,  of  Hornby  (b.  1565),  2i,  22. 

Edward,  of  Melkenthorpe,  25,  33. 

Edward,  son  of  Thomas,  of  Hornby,  29. 

Edward,  son  of  Catterick,  29. 

Edward,  of  Aldborough,  6. 

Edward,  of  Coatflat,  8. 

Edward,  of  Orton,  44,  45. 

Edward,  Rev.,  46. 

Edward,  Sir,  115. 

Edward  (b.  1845),  104. 

Edward  Lewis,  114. 

Eleanor,  25. 

Elizabeth,  wife  of  Henry  (1550),  15. 

Elizabeth,  second  wife  of  Richard,  88,  90. 

Emmeline  Carr,  108. 

Enrique  F.,  104. 

Frances,  85,  87. 

Frank,  no. 

Frederick,  103. 

Geoffrey  (b.  1875),  n4. 

Geoffrey,  of  Mallerstang,  81,  82,  83. 

George,  son  of  Henry,  of  Hornby,  19,  36. 

George,  of  Dundalk,  48. 

George,  of  Orton,  40,  41,  42,  43,  45. 

George,  of  Soulby,  73,  81. 

George  Lucio,  105. 

George,  Dr.,  108. 

George  Henry,  109. 

George  (b.  1857),  109. 

Gervase  (d.  1674),  27. 

Gervase  (b.  1675),  29. 

Henry,  son  of  Thomas,  of  Carlisle  (d. 

before  1550),  15. 
Henry,  son  of  Edward,  of  Hornby,  n ,  19. 
Henry,  Priest  (d.  i6n),  21,  53. 
Henry,  of  Hornby  (b.  1620),  24. 
Henry,  of  Headlam,  22,  23,  24. 
Henry,  of  Eamont  Bridge,  56. 
Henry,  of  Orton,  43. 
Henry,  of  Blue  Grass,  79. 
Henry,  of  Keswick,  97,  ni. 
Henry,  of  Stoke  Holy  Cross,  n3. 
Henry,  of  Westacre,  n4. 
Henry  Anthony,  n4. 
Henry  Angel,  lOS- 
Henry  (b.  1862),  109. 
Hylbert,  Sir,  3,  20. 
Hylbert  John,  n9. 
Isabel,  wife  of  Geoffrey   (d.   1670),  81  ; 

her  will,  82. 

U    2 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OK   WESTMORLyVND. 


IRKEKCK,  Isabel,  wife  of  William,  of  Deepgill. 

Isabel,  dau.  of  William,  87. 

lames,  of  Orton  (1614),  40. 
,,  James,  of  Mallerstang  (1670),  82. 

,,  lames  Braidwood,  109. 

jane,   wife   of  Edward   (1549),   16;    her 
will,  .7. 

Jeffray,  Rev.,  57. 

Joan,  wife  of  Thomas,  of  Hornby  (1610), 
18,  36. 
„  John,  Prebendary  of  Lincoln  (d.  1402),  6. 

,,  John,  Vice-Chancellor  Oxon  143S,  6. 

John,  Rev.,  of  Great  Musgrave,  56. 
„  John,  of  Eamont  Bridge,  56. 

John,   of  Blue  Grass   (d.  1582),   75,  76, 

,,  John,  grandson  of  John,  of  Blue  Grass, 

77,  83- 

John,    son    of   William,    of   Mallerstang, 
85,  87,  88,  89,  90. 

John  (b.  1723),  116. 

John  (b.  1747),  no. 

John  (b.  1749),  117. 

John  (b.  1781),  118. 

John  (b.  1817),  119. 

John  (b.  1827),  112. 

John  (b.  1842),  119. 

John  (b.  1872),  V,  119. 
„  Joseph,  119. 

,,  '        Katherine,  dau.  of  John,  co.  York,  5. 
„  Lucy,  1 13. 

,  Margaret,   wife  of  Thomas,  of  Hornby, 

26. 
,,  Margaret,   wife    of   George,    of    Orton, 

43- 

Margaret,  dau.  of  William,  of  Deepgill, 
87. 
,,  Martin,  113. 

,,  Mary,  wife  of  Thomas,  of  Morton  Tyn- 

mouth,  4,  20. 
,,  Mary,  dau.  of  Thomas,  of  Hornby,  30. 

,,  Mary,  wife  of  Catterick,  27. 

Mary,  wife  of  John,  go. 

Morris  (b.  1734),  100,  ioi. 
,,  Morris  (b.  1764),  loi. 

Morris  (b.  1799),  103. 

Morris  (b.  1838),  103. 
,,  Morris  Jerome,  105. 

,,  Norman  de,  39. 

,,  Peter,  Rev.,  4,  47. 

,,  Rachel  Susannah,  107. 

,,  Richard,  of  Morton  Tynmouth,  19. 

„  Richard,   son    of    Edward,    of    Hornby, 

25- 
Richard,    of   Deepgill,    82,    83,    85,    87, 

88. 
Richard  (b.  1795),  103. 
Robert,  115. 
Robert  Epifanio,  105. 
Robert  Stansfeld,  v,  80,  no. 
Roger,  81. 
Rosetta  Anne,  107. 
Ruth,  89. 
Samuel,  Rev.,  47. 
Samuel  Bradford  (b.  1802),  104. 
Samuel  Bradford  (b.  1852),  105. 
Sarah,  wife  of  William,  of  Settle,  96. 
Simon,  Rev.,  24. 


BiRKBECK.  Stephen,   of  Mallerstang,   temp.   Henry 
VI 11.,  68,  76. 
,,  Thomas,  of  Carlisle  (1515),  v,  i,  13,  14, 

15- 
Thomas,  of  Ripley  (15S4),  11. 
,,  Thomas,  of  Hornby  (d.    1608),    17,  18, 

21,  23,  35. 
Thomas,  of  Hornby  (1665),  25,  26,  27. 
Thomas,   son   of   Thomas,   of   Hornby, 
30- 
,,  Thomas,  of  Morton  Tynmouth,  4,   19. 

Thomas,  of  Orton,  4,  40,  43,  44,  46,  47. 
Thomas,  Rev.,  4,  46. 
Thomas  (b.  1S08),  107. 
Thomas  Brougham  (b.  1S26),  loS. 
,,  Thomas  Brougham  (b.  i860),  109. 

,,  Victor  John,  1 19. 

,,  Vincent  M.,  120. 

WiUiam,   Rev.,  Vicar  of  Orton   (1455), 

40. 
William,    of  Mallerstang,    temp.    Henry 

VIIL,  68,76. 
WiUiam,  Priest  (1581),  53. 
William,  of  Gray's  Inn  (1577),  56,  78. 
William,  of  Blue  Grass  (1604),  75,  77. 
,,  William,  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  2,  79. 

William,   of  Deepgill   (1663—1698),  69, 

82,  83,  84,  S5. 
William,  of  Settle  (1679—1751),  85,  87, 

95,  96,  97. 
William,  of  Settle  (1705,  1772),  98. 
Wilham,  of  Settle  (b.  1745),  106. 
William,  of  Settle  (b.  1772),  106. 
,,  William,  of  Thorpe,  114. 

William  Henry,  120. 
,,  William  John,  1 15. 

William  Lloyd,  80,  109. 
Wilhelmusde  (1318),  10. 
Wilson,  116. 

Mr.,    ringleader   of  deerstealers    (1677), 
1 1. 
Birkbeckand  Blakes,  loi. 
Birkbeck,  Clergy  and  Priests,  51,  52. 

,,         Derivation  of  name,  9. 
Birkbeck  entries  in  Orton  Register,  40. 
Birkbeck  Fells,  8. 

Birkbecks,  Homes  of  the,  48,  49,  50,  51,  52. 
Birkbeck  Lordship,  8. 
Birkbecks  in  Mallerstang,  67. 
Birkbeck  Matches,  34. 
Birkbeck,  Migrations  of,  48. 
Birkbeck  River,  8. 
Birkbeck,  Spelling  of  name.  9. 
Birkdale,  Henry,  75. 
Blenkarn,  H.,  75. 

Blue  Grass,  60,  61,  62,  75,  76,  79,  80. 
Bochardbv,  Manor  of,  14. 
Bodleian, 'MS.  in,  14. 
Brackenbury,  Henry,  of  Sellaby,  22. 
Bradford,  Hannah,  loi. 
Brampton,  14,  17,  34. 
Brougham  Church,  32. 
Brougham,  John  (1550),  15. 
Bunsen,  Emma  von,  112. 
Burn,  Dr.,  71. 
Burton,  Dr.,  97. 
Bush,  Prudence,  102. 
Buxton,  M.  A.,  1 13. 


INDEX. 


H5 


Calvert  of  Cockerham,  21,  35. 

Cardinals,  Robbery  of,  10. 

Carleton,  29. 

Carr,  Anne,  107. 

Carr-Birkbeck,  Lawrence  Henry,  loS. 

Caryll,  John,  of  Ladyhole,  30. 

Catholics,  21,  30. 

Cator,  E.  M.,  114. 

Catterick,  John,  26,  35. 

Clergy,  51,52. 

Clifford  Arms,  34. 

Clifford  Match,  34,  35. 

Clifford,  de,  62. 

„         Lord,  77. 

Robert  de,  66. 

,,         Roger  de,  66. 

,,         Sir  Thomas,  14. 
Close,  Bishop  of  Carlisle  and  Lichfield, 
Coatflat  Hall,  39,  41,  44,  45. 
Cornforth,  John,  of  Blackwell,  22. 
Crests,  2,  5,  7. 
Cullen,  Viscount,  27,  28. 
Cumberland,  Francis,  Earl  of,  62,77,  ^' 
George,  Earl  of,  18,  62,7! 
„  Henry,  Earl  of,  17,  27. 

Curfew  at  Kirkby  Stephen,  73. 


Dacre,  Lord,  14. 
Dale,  John,  23. 
Dalston,  Thomas,  30,  32. 
Darby,  Richard,  62. 
D'Arcy,  M.  C.  E.  T.,  loi,  105. 
Deepgill,  68,  69,  70,  75,  76. 
Deer  killing,  11,  19,  59. 
Denton  de  Cardew,  34. 
Dewsbury,  William,  98. 
DilUvorth,  Mary,  117. 
Dixon,  Anthony,  58. 
Doomsday  Book,  9. 
Draper,  Henry,  24. 
Duffield,  Annie  C,  104. 

,,         Edith  Marion,  103. 
Dugdale's  Visitation  of  Westmorland,  2,  25,  33, 
Dugdale's  Visitation  of  Yorkshire,  3,  47. 
Dwnn's  "  Visitation  of  Wales,"  3. 


Eamont  Bridge,  Birkbecks  at,  55,  76,  79. 
Engelland,  Bertha,  103. 


Fawcett,  Miss,  69,  83. 
Fell,  John,  99. 

,,     Sarah,  go. 
Fetherstonehaugh,  Rev.  Hugh,  42. 
ffolkes,  E.  L  B.;  113. 
Fleming,  Sir  D.,  61. 
Foray  in  Scotland  (1543),  16. 


Forcet,  24. 
Forster,  Jane,  98. 
„        Josiah,  98. 
„        Right  Hon.  W.  E. 
Fothergill,  Christopher,  7? 
„  Gabriel,  75. 

Henry,  75. 
,,  Rev.  Geo.,  42. 

Fothergills  at  Deepgill,  69. 
Fox,  George,  61,  93,  94. 
„     Mrs.  Charles,  99. 
„     Sarah,  119. 


Gardner,  Anna  Margaret, 

108. 

Ghost  Story,  99. 

GiUing,  24 

Gillow,  Jos 

•,  53.  54- 

Glass,  stair 

ed,  at  Headlati 

1,  23 

35- 

„   Hornby 

33- 

Gough,  Robert,  106. 

Graduates 

at  Universities 

55- 

Gray's  Inn 

55- 

Grimshaw, 

Capt.,  70,  78,81. 

Gurney,  B. 

rtlett,  no. 

„        Ja 

ne,  wife  of  Jos. 

John 

III. 

::  l: 

ne,  dau.  of  Jose'ph, 
ne,  wife  of  Hv.  Edm 

12. 
und,  I 

„        Martha,  no. 

H 


Hall,  Sarah,  10. 
Hamond,  M.  A.,  113. 
S.  M.,  115. 
Hanks,  Prudence,  102. 
Harclay,  Sir  Michael  de,  8. 
Harris,  Catherine,  104. 

,,       Mary,  104. 
Hart-horn-tree,  31. 
Haswell,  Dr.,  32. 
Headlam,  4,  22. 

Stained  glass  at,  23,  25. 
Hellebek,  Sir  Thomas  de,  39. 
Hellgill,  68. 

Hercia,  Andrew  de,  10. 
Hett,  J.  H.,  owner  of  Headlam,  23. 
Higginson,  Rev.  Francis,  71. 
Highmore,  Elizabeth,  14. 
Hodgkin,  Thomas,  94. 

Holden,  Mr.,  former  owner  of  Headlam,  23. 
Hornby,  Birkbecks  at,  13. 
Hornby  Hall,   17,   18,  28,  30,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35,36, 

37- 
Hornby  Hall,  coloured  glass  at,  33. 
Hothfield,  Lord,  62. 
Howgill  Castle,  muster  at  (1559),  16. 
Hutton,  Anne,  22. 


Ion,  Margaret,  1 1 
Ireland,  Dan.,  88 


146 


THE    BIRKBECKS   OF   WESTMORLAND. 


Jackson,  Margaret  Jane, 
James  I.,  63,  64. 
JoUiffe,  Hon.  M.  A.,  1 16 
Julian  of  the  Bower,  66. 


,60. 


Kaber  Rigg  Pic 

Kay,  Anne,  46. 

Keswick  Old  Hall,  iii. 

Kirkby  Stephen,  a  nest  of  traitors,  72. 

Kirkby  Stephen  Church,  70,  71,  72. 

Kirkby  Stephen  Registers,  72,  73,  95. 

Kirkby  Thore,  14. 


Labourne,  Arms  of,  35. 
Lamphey,  .20. 

Lancaster,  Ambrose,  of  Sockbridge,  17. 
Cristabel  de  (1528),  14. 
Earl  of  (1318),  10. 
„  Jane,  16. 

Thomas,  14,  16. 
Lancaster  of  Brampton,  35. 
Lancaster  of  Sockbridge,  13,  35. 
Lawson,  John,  of  St.  Anthony,  21. 
Lloyd,  Catherine,  loS. 
Lubbock,  Mary  Harriet,  115. 
Lune,  River,  8. 
Lynn  Bank,  in. 


M 


Machell,  Rev.  Thomas,  2,  3,  9,  34,  80. 

Wackesy,  Mary  E.,  iig. 

Mallerstang,  54,  55,  59,  60,  61,  62,  63,  64,  65,  66, 

67,68,  69,  70,  71,  75. 
Mallerstang  Chapel,  67. 
Mallerstang  Tenants,  63,  64. 
Marriages  during  the  Commonwealth,  72. 
Mednyanzsky,  Anna  Margaret,  108. 
Metcalfe,  James,  8g. 
Middleton,  Ninian,  32. 
Milner,  Margaret,  85,  87. 
Monks,  52,  53,  54. 
Morville,  Sir  Hugh  de,  62. 
Mottoes,  7. 
Musgrave,  Great,  57,  76. 


New  Albion,  U.S.A., 
New  Garden,  U.S.A., 
Ninian,  St.,  32. 
Norwich  Bank,  no,  : 


Old  Style,  vi. 

Orton,  38. 

Orton  Advowson  and  Rectory, 


Orton  Birkbecks,  38. 
Orton  Boundary  Roll,  8. 
Orton  Church  Chest,  41,  43. 
Orton  Hall,  41,  43,  44,  45,  46. 
Orton  Manor,  39. 
Orton  Petty  Hall,  45. 
Orton  Register,  40,  41. 
Orton  Wills,  43. 
Osgoodby,  6. 
Outhgill,  64. 


Pedigr 


RKBtxKS  OF  Hornby,  26. 

RKEECKS  OF  SHEFFIELD,   47. 

Peirson,  R.,  of  Bishops  Medlam,  27. 

Pell,  Eliza,  102. 

Pembroke,  Anne,  Counters  of,  26,  27,  60,  61,  63,  64, 

66,  67. 
Penal  Laws,  30. 
Pendratjon  Castle,  65,  66,  67. 
Penrith,  Birkbecks  at,  55. 
Petty,  Christopher  and  Elizabeth,  46. 
Philipson,  Miles,  46. 
Pierson,  Margaret,  118. 
Plague  at  Orton,  40. 
Plague  at  Penrith.  58. 
Poole,  George,  of  Wakebridge,  25,  35. 
Priests.  52,  53.  54- 
Proctor,  Thomas,  i. 
Pulleine,  Thomas,  28. 


Quakers,  vi,  61,  71,  72,  93,  94. 
R 


Ravenstonedale,  94. 
Record  Office,  i  T. 
Roman  Catholics,  94. 


Salkeld  de  Rosgill,  34. 
Sandford  of  Howgill,  34. 
Sandforth,  muster  at,  3S. 
Sedbergh,  94. 
Settle,  Birkbecks  of,  93. 

„       House  at,  97. 

,,       MSS.  at,  89. 
Settle  Bank,  97,  no. 
Settle  Meeting,  96. 
Shaw,  Isabell,  85,  86. 
Shellet,  Roger,  56. 
Shoregill,  81,  84. 
Similarity  of  Christian  nair 
Skaif,  Barnaby,  75. 
Southwaite,  75. 
Spelling  of  Birkbeck,  9. 
Stansfeld,  Elizabeth,  n8. 
„  George,  107. 

Rachel  W.,  119. 
St.  Mary-at-Hill,  91. 
Statesmen,  60. 


55,  56- 


INDEX. 


[47 


Sycamores,  6S. 
Sycamore  Trees,  The,  70. 
Symson,  Elizabeth  (1550),  17. 
„         Sir  Christopher,  57. 


Talebois,  Ivo  de,  13. 

"  Thesaurus  Litaniarum,'  54. 

Tithes,  97. 

Todd,  Agnes,  87. 

Torbock,  Mr.  Joseph,  64,  84,  91 


Valdes,  Damiana,  104. 
Veteripont,  William  de,  62. 


Wabash,  River,  102. 
Wakefield,  E.  T.,  107. 
Wanborou2h,  lOi. 


Westmorland,  Gentlemen  of  (1543),  15. 
Wharton  de  Kirkby  Thore,  arms  of,  34. 


Whart 

™  Dykes,  79. 

Whart 

5n,  Gilbert,  of  Kirkby  Tho 

Humphrey,  24. 

Jno.,  24. 

Michael,  80. 

Philip,  Lord.  78. 

Sir  Thomas,  15. 

Thomas,  Lord,  68,  71. 

„ 

Thomas,  46,  47- 

Whelpdale,  Jane,  19. 

Whinfield  Park,  64. 

White, 

I.  E.,  no. 

L.  H..  loQ. 

Whitehead,  George,  42,  93. 

Widdn 

ngton,  Lord,  25. 

Wild  B 

oar,  the  last,  72. 

Wild  Boar  Fell,  68. 

Willan 

George,  89. 

Richard,  89. 

Wilson 

,  Deborah,  100. 

Sarah,  116. 

Wood, 

Ann,  103. 

S.  M.,  iiS. 

Woolle 

n.  Burial  in,  90. 

2250 


*  it*'  'i'      Mi